I managed to miss the first band of the night, so my first taste is Drowned in Flames who play metal like the world stopped turning in 1991. Long hair, groove, pretty good riffs – they’re not half bad until the open their mouths. They don’t unleash hardcore vocals as such, instead they seem to summon the spirit of a cat being tortured by an angry dog, miss any sense of phrasing or timing and then unleash it awkwardly over what was up until then pretty catchy and effective but standard pub metal. It’s a cacophony and predictably only the bands 3 mates at the front look interested. About 10 people look embarrassed and everyone else ignores them. Which is a shame, with a decent vocalist they’d not be half bad. 2/5

The Computers are a band who I’ve only heard good things about, but sadly they turn out to be this years Kinesis. Matching white outfits, bluster and swagger, the odd good riff, a bucket load of style…. underpinned by little substance. Huge promise… but going through the motions. It’s not all bad, they channel the spirit of McClusky in places, and some of the riffs are huge…. but the constant “I’m well punk me” posturing soon gets boring and stale. 3/5

Cancer Bats are great. They rage unrelentlessly for a good 45 minutes, and lay waste in their element. I’m not Cancer Bats biggest fan on record, I found Birthing The Giant a bit samey, and I’ve seen them in bigger venues where they’ve appeared a little lost. Within 10 seconds of starting though Liam Cormier is in the crowd and pretty much stays there. Watching the band tear up Fibbers makes me wonder why they even bother recording CD’s or supporting bigger bands in bigger venues – seeing them in a dive like this makes you really appreciate just how powerful their muscular metal can be, and with the entire crowd getting stuck in you begin to appreciate every breakdown and every rhythm change – it’s certainly exciting enough to make a cynic like me go out and pick up Birthing The Giant for the second time. 5/5

Kieran

The Subculture is pretty damn full tonight, even for the opening band. But most people were surely left both confused and stupeified by the band whose name escapes me. Completely out of place and completely devoid of talent, nobody even bothered to boo, preferring to remain in a state of shock. notworthgrading/10

Next up are can’t-decide-what-genre-to-play outfit Cross My Heart. The namesake of the Deep Elm band spent about 20 minutes tuning up to play a 4 (?) song set. A drummer with no sense of time and a vocalist with no idea how to sing are prime reasons why this is the one of, if not the, worst band I’ve ever seen. This is the sort of shit that happens when you try and develop a band from a fucking clothing label. Get a fucking grip. The only highlight was Punktastic’s very own Si bellowing to the entire club: “I’ve seen you sucking cock on the internet”, to which the band quickly departed the stage. Hallelujah. I’drathercircumcisemyself/10

Considering the shower of shite that’s gone before them, Chaos Days pretty much only have go through the motions to be seen as musical revolutionaries. Playing a set that seems designed to appeal to the hardcore type who has a strange obsession with New Found Glory, there’s a small degree of enjoyment to be had here. The band itself seem fairly tight and the tunes catchy and well structured, but their singer just doesn’t have the range of Jordan Pundik. Such vocal disappointments didn’t completely ruin everything, though, so I guess that’s something. 6/10

First and foremost, I’m a dirty little No Trigger fanboy, as you’ll see by looking up the review I wrote for Canyoneer about 18 months ago. Vocal delivery is spot on and guitars are as widdly as they come, but The Subculture is a club and not a venue, and the band are hampered by the limitations of both the physical space available to them and the overall sound. Despite this, a near-identical set to what they played on their support tour of A Wilhelm Scream in January is knocked out with a degree of aplomb. The band seemed to recognise, however, that the next time they appear they’ll need to be throwing in a few new songs to keep things fresh. Great fun. 8/10

Having ripped open a scab on my arm and been drenched in sweat during No Trigger, I move towards the more sedate end of the venue for Set Your Goals, which happened to give a pretty good view as things decidedly “went off”. The physical interchange of their two singers on-stage is very reminiscent of hiphop duo and they work the crowd into a complete frenzy opening, as ever, it seems, with ‘Mutiny‘ and powering through the rest of the crowd’s favourites from both the album and the EP. Again, sound limitations aside, this was top drawer, and the inclusion of a short encore which included a version of the theme tune from The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air was very welcome, even if they didn’t finish it. 8/10

Josephs Well is dead tonight, so much so that I thought I?d got the wrong day. In
listening to Caffeine I presumed they would have attracted a healthy sized crowd due to their mainstream Pop/Punk style and catchy tracks, yet there can?t be more than 30 people here. The band blame it on a lack of publicity and remain optimistic, claiming that it?s a good thing as their new drummer Nick has just flown in from Hollywood. Not only will this be his first show with the band, but it will pretty much be their rehearsal too!

Starting the evening off, a trio of male teens aptly named ?Stick My Army? provided a chaotic blend of Ska/Punk that sounded somewhat messy and unrehearsed at best. They have moments where you think that it could get better, but doesn?t quite. Curiously enough the drummer is the lead vocalist as well. As vaguely impressive as this is, the band still desperately need an alternative frontman for vocals with a greater range that can cope better with the songs. Maybe then the guitarist and bassist would stop huddling around the drummer with their backs to the audience. (3)

Peterborough?s ?Mesh 29? were pleasantly surprising. The vocals were beautifully melodic and the keyboard and acoustic guitar worked perfectly. Their acoustic Pop/Rock ballads, such as ?5am?, are worthy of the O.C and definitely bigger venues/crowds than tonights. At times their sound is similar to that of The Goo Goo Dolls. Debut single ?Over the Barricades? is beautiful, polished and well rehearsed. Considering the turn out it receives a genuine and impressive round of applause. Final surprise for the audience was a solo from the keyboardist. Despite him apparently not knowing he was going to be asked to perform it, combined with him not being the lead vocalist, he does fantastically. On announcement of last song ?Cigarette?, their vocalist takes his chance to plug their friends, ?Enjoy Caffeine. They?re an awesome band?. The song successfully gets a handful of people dancing along, which is an impressive result tonight. (7)

Caffeine break into catchy favourite ?She?s a Knockout?, drawing everyone back into the hall for some quality fun. This is Pop/Punk at its best and minus the cheesy vocals. Instead, these are replaced with Scott McEwan?s London accent, which gives them a more original sound and exciting edge. Song ?Dancefloor? goes down fantastically and has a Ska-type intro that gets people skanking before the disco beats kick in. Quality guitaring, and drumming so ferocious new drummer Nick manages to break through the skin on the snare (which had to be swiftly replaced). At announcement of ?This is a dance song!? from vocalist/bassist Scott they perform a seriously cool rendition of ?You Spin Me Round?? which turns out to be the greatest highlight of the evening, complete with backing vocals from guitarist J, which complement Scott?s perfectly. ?Hotel Room? was the only anti-climax as? well, like a friend of Scott?s once joked ?Great song, but kinda makes you wanna die!?. It?s a great song, but when all of the other songs have been so upbeat, it isn?t received as well as it deserves to be. Caffeine end on ?The Lights go Down? and exit the stage one by one in style. A fantastic finish to an uncertain evening. Catch them while you can. (8)

Carolyn

Bonfire night, eh? Nah. I’d rather get out of my room, away from my computer, and across to York, to see a band that I’ve kept half an eye on for about 18 months. Tonight’s show is a ‘Levi’s Ones To Watch’ tour, and without knowing the tour support, I turned up halfway through the opening band’s set. THE FALLING SPIKES (www.thefallingspikes.com) are a little ‘miss’ on the ‘hit or miss’ scale for me. I have no idea what it was, but they’re passable at best at times, and at all others, very uninspiring, and I find myself nose deep in ‘The Fly’. (5)

AMUSEMENT PARKS ON FIRE (www.myspace.com/amusementparksonfire) on the other hand tick the box for ‘promising’ as they open their 5 song set, and at first, it takes a while for what’s going on to sink in. 3-songs in, and I’m pretty much won over. The vocals grow on you, and musically and structurally the band are strong. At times they sound like a less manic 65daysofstatic, just with vocals, and I’ve marked them down on my mental ‘Check them out later’ list. (7)

Standing around, fiddling with my phone, between bands, and looking around at the various types of people (there’s a broad range: student-types, 50 year olds, and a Pete Doherty wannabe doing the rounds), it made me think of how much Mumm-ra as a band as a success story. In May 2005, they were touring with co-hopefuls theriverclub, in toilet venues across the country, and come September, they were tour support for The Automatic, with a very well received EP released on Sony-backed Columbia. Now, they’re headlining a Levi’s Ones To Watch tour around Barfly venues. It’s not quite the Get Cape story, just yet, but if tonight is anything to go by, it might just be…

As Mumm-ra launch into a pacey opening song, the vocals are strong, the band sound brilliant, and it’s only a sneaky peak of what’s to come in the next 45 minutes. Playing through an 11-song set involving rubbing a balloon against your hair, and a duck, most of the material is unreleased, bar one EP song, and the 3 songs on the recent single release, but from one song to the next, the crowd reaction is superb. The harmonies in ‘She’s Got Your Eye’ particularly get my attention, and it’s excellent to see Noo working the crowd so well between songs. There’s too much chattering going on for my liking when the quieter parts are played, but a highlight for me despite this is the inclusion of ‘When The Lights Go Out’, as well as the harmonica, coming as a surprise at the end of ‘Star’. The set closes on the recent single, which ended up at number 45 in the singles chart, but with the influx of balloons from the band’s merch guy as they kick into their closing song, the additional promo might just do them a favour and bump them back up there. By the time the CD players starts again, and the lights come on, I’ve recognised a remarkable change in Mumm-Ra over the last 18 months, which has turned them into a well-oiled music making machine.

If you’re into your indie-pop-rock, or fancy checking out a new band, I don’t think you can go far wrong with these lads. ‘Out of the Question’ is available now on three formats. Do yourself a favour and buy it. (8.5)

Setlist:
(Unknown ?)
Song B
The Signal
She’s Got Your Eye
These Things Move and Freeze
Song E
This is Easy
Now Or Never
Star (?)
When The Lights Go Out
Clocks Tick Louder at the Dead of Night
Out of the Question

Dave

I didn?t see Vanilla Pod.

Now we come to The Draft. When I was talking to the singer in an interview beforehand you could tell that he was literally pissing his pants with excitement to be playing on this tour. And when you?ve seen fads come and go whilst playing in Hot Water Music for over a decade, you couldn?t help but share his excitement. And my own excitement was not placed with false hope as The Draft began belting out the already powerful and singalong melodies from In A Million Pieces. The fact that a lot of the guitar work is less frenetic than their predecessors means that greater importance is heaped onto the vocal delivery and the tightness of the performance. Again, you couldn?t have been disappointed with what was offered up. ?Alive or Dead? and ?New Eyes Open? resonated around the Well with a wave of positive energy to accompany it. But the singer?s excitement and the band?s performance was summed up by set closer ?Lo Zee Rose?. That song is just absolutely massive. Listening to its cries of ?Burn away, burn away!? now as I write this brings the shivers back. Brilliant. 9/10

I don?t know what to make of Samiam?s singer, I really don?t. A funny guy, but he?s clearly a nutter. Anyway, this part of the review could almost write itself. Samiam?s show was very powerful, and clearly meant a great deal to a large section of the crowd, many of whom had presumably waited a good few years to see this. My only criticism is directed at the setlist. There was no room for ?Ordinary life?, ?Look, no hand? or ?How long?, unless my memory deceives me. But it was a list which clearly pleased the vast majority of the crowd so I guess I must be a deviant, or something. As the actual performance showed few, if any, flaws, your rating of their set probably depends on how big a fan you are and how much liked the setlist. So grade from 8 to 10 according to your personal stance. 8.5/10

Spud

Tonight’s promoter had been in a bit of trouble over the last two weeks, it would seem. This fact was publicised on Myspace.com, and various regional and national music communites. It would also appear that tonight’s show was taken over by the headlining band, as upon entering the venue, Tokyo Rose‘s bassist is working the door, and lead vocalist/guitarist is checking handstamps. I’d been worried over the turnout for tonight’s show, in all honesty, but early indications seemed as though tonight would have been rather sizeable.

The original line-up is intact, and it’s not a surprise that Your Fatal Error and PenKnifeLovelife are local support on this show, given that Ghostfest was originally putting this show on. Unfortunately, neither bands are all that enjoyable, and a large chunk of time is spent in the bar.

One of the UK’s most hyped young acts are up next, and as Furthest Drive Home take the stage, I’m quietly excited to be seeing them tonight. The thing is, though, that tonight, FDH are borderline average, mainly down to the levels, but something just doesn’t sit well with me. It’s fun, and it’s bouncy, but it doesn’t flow all that well for me. Hopefully, the sound was the main factor in tonight’s display, but I’m not sold on FDH just yet. (6)

Days In December are a little too late with what they do (and maybe a little late onstage, as the room is quickly emptying). They do it well, but the whole metal/’emo’ thing is overdone, and on its way out. That said, watching DID isn’t exactly a chore – Dan’s able to work (what’s left of) the crowd well, and the sound is as close to spot on as we’re going to get. (7)

Why are Tokyo Rose over here? I’m not taking anything away from them when I say that they just don’t have the following to justify touring venues such as Joseph’s Well, as the room is bare, and about 25 people are left. As I say, I’ll take nothing away from them, because even though there’s no-one there, the frontman’s confident enough to get the crowd interaction started, and his voice is pretty much spot on. The stage-show’s a little static, but I can’t help think that given another 20-30 people to boost the crowd, that they’d have put a lot more into the show, and that tonight’s performance might have been rather brilliant. As it stands, with the atmosphere around the place, Tokyo Rose are lost on the public, and it’s only ‘enjoyable’. (7.5)

The Mercury League were the first band I saw and, well, it really does bear repeating how unimaginably better these guys are live than on their CD. I?ve heard about their supposed discontent with the production of it, but to see them live is to see one of the country?s premier heavy punk rock outfits in their element.

I saw some other bands right about now. But, for the life of me, I can?t remember who, and for that I sincerely apologise. They were fair decent, though.

Send More Paramedics headlined the Friday. I?m completely unfamiliar with their new album, but the stuff on display sounded decent. Obviously everyone?s favourite ?Zombie Crew? was raucously received, and finished off a performance best described as solid, if no more than what you expect from them.

The Great St. Louis. These guys really impressed. In a very similar stylistic vein to The Leif Ericsson and The Dauntless Elite, their sound came across as catchy punk rock with Leatherface style vocals being sung by Eddie Guerrero; gratifyingly infectious, from where I?m standing.

Stopping off at the Well as part of their UK tour, The Rituals, over from Italy, seemed to win quite a few fans here with their great performance, and possibly as many again because of their frontman?s nervous yet hilariously brilliant interjections between songs including the all-time classic of ?Thank you, you make us do a sex-wee?. Fantastic.

The Dauntless Elite were every bit as good as the last time I saw them. Catchy punk rock combined with great delivery and a massive reputation amongst members of this crowd made for a great show.

Everyone had been raving about Leatherface?s appearance because of the simple fact that they?re a massive influence to loads of the bands at OOS. Unfortunately, I was fairly drunk by this point, but I think I remember hearing a flawless version of ?Sour Grapes?, which put a massive smile on my face.

The prospect of a live album by Milloy had been at the forefront of my mind for weeks. Serving up a huge set, with the usual highlights from More Than A Machine, the set had a surprisingly large number of older songs from their two EPs crammed into it. It?s pointless grading their performance, as they?re quite simply one of the most consistently brilliant bands in the UK punk scene. But tonight the room was absolutely full to the rafters with people screaming back every word: a truly memorable experience.

Serial sheep-botherer Jez Myers’ live count as half of Midget & Giant is up to 15 or 16 now. And he?s quick to remind you that his partner in crime, Laura Holley, (Giant) is a special talent. After seven songs and half an hour where my jaw gradually lowered, I?m inclined to agree with him. They play sullen, gut-wrenching acoustic music which is both moving and thoughtful enough to more than hold your attention. He plays down his own role in the partnership, but it?s hard not to when you?re playing alongside one of most unique young performers I?ve ever seen. Giant?s voice is absolutely something else; I arrived without any expectations, yet after 30 minutes I?d experienced something that I can only describe as hauntingly beautiful.

Keith Burton brought his Beef Curtain to Well to bring a more light-hearted approach to proceedings. Playing to the biggest crowd I?ve ever seen him entertain, the set is punctuated by highlights of loud laughter from almost every section of the audience and, bizarrely enough, by Jez Myers returning to the stage to perform possibly the strangest dance I?ve ever seen. Finishing with the usual anthem of ?Alcoholic Lesbian Vet?, this is as strong as ever.

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly! was a late addition to the line-up, and he treats the crowd to a selection of tracks from his forthcoming album whilst playing the tracks from his EP, such as ?Chronicles?? that put him on path he?s now on. He suffered in terms of the sound stakes, as his guitar was chronically underpowered when set against his live drummer, but the new songs sound absolutely massive and show a marked progression in terms of maturity, yet they seem to retain the trademark GCWCF sincerity.

I?ve never caught The Wireless Stores before. Since I returned home, though, I?ve been largely listening to ?The Speed of Sound? on loop. Bringing in influences from old American College Rock, a certain massive pop-rock band (which I can?t seem to place), their catchy sensibilities are balanced against vocals with such a warm tone and variety in style, you can?t help but warm to them. Thoroughly enjoyable.

RANDOM HAND follow and play one of the longest sets I?ve seen from a support act in ages. It?s clear that a good proportion of the crowd are loyal to these guys for their zany, off-the-wall antics (which are thankfully not overused), and talent for combining the ska upstroke with the odd blistering metal riff. Their sound seems considerably more ?comfortable? and assured when performed live than the odd song of theirs I?ve heard on record. This is in no small way due to frontman Robin Leitch: his aura is of gangly energy which seems to hook you. Oh, and his ska-flavoured rapping is pretty sharp too. With new songs like ?Anthropology? going down a storm alongside the favourites they?ve already established amongst their followers, Random Hand have pretty much found their (well-hidden) niche. (7)

It seems a little silly for me to write a superlative-laden review of SONIC BOOM 6?s set, as it?ll only seem like I?m paraphrasing ben @ punktastic?s recent live review of them, but it?s safe to say that SB6 are shaking down the borderlines between genres and stamping all over them. They?re at their undeniable best when they leave the ska largely behind and become a truly mesmerising hiphop collective just because of the vocal ranges they can achieve across pitches and speeds between 3 MCs. Even after a van crashing debacle and panics over equipment, this is still funky, catchy, soulful and loaded with a delicious degree of self-awareness that?s just keeping pace with their raging talent; this demands your undivided attention. (8.5)

Spud

You can

SIX SECOND HERO‘s vocalist claimed the band were so named because it only took them that long to hit super-stardom. Someone in the crowd piped up it was because that’s how long it took them in bed. Both are very wrong. The name actually derives from how long it will take you to work out that this lot play a brand of tuneless pop-punk that is devoid of any tune or melody. Play in time, learn how to sing and THEN practice your posing frontman moves and star jumps. Rubbish. (2)

Promoted to headline (where they should have been anyway in my opinion), MY AWESOME COMPILATION take the stage with an extra member, Steel Rules Die bassist Andy, while Darius recovers from a broken hand. The band aren’t quite on top form tonight, with both Chris and Daz suffering from bad throats, but even then they stand out a mile. I still maintain this Leicester mob are one of the best bands in Britain and people are slowly beginning to listen. ‘Wish You Well’ and ‘Our Lives:The Sequel’ are fantastic power-pop songs that have you swaying and dancing, but it’s the energy and fun the band have on stage that really set MAC apart. There’s a charm you want to cherish – it’s like seeing your children on stage, rocking out, such is the feeling everyone gets. Even Darius’ fine rendition of 50 Cents’ ‘In Da Club’ (or whatever it’s called!) gives everyone an extra wide smile. It’s not a case of if with MAC – just when.

Paul