My last new venue of the weekend was the Bootlegger. A pub with a small venue above it. There were two acts that I wanted to see here, and so I got the middle one for free as it were.
The first act was Adult Cat. I had seen them in London supporting Another Day and was impressed. I was impressed again. Nice entertaining four piece band who seem to enjoy what they do
Sarah Crean was my freebie - an act I was seeing only because she was here. I would have been keener to see her if I had realised she had a band rather than being a solo singer songwriter strumming on a guitar. She is Irish, has charm and wit and a lovely voice (as had some of her band). In many ways one of the more accomplished acts that I had seen over the weekend. But. But just a little too gentle for me. If not shoegaze I want something more aggressive out of my rock bands. It s not you Sarah, you are great, its me....
POUCH were supposed to be a punk band in the mould of the Buzzcocks. They were ok, but a bit disappointingly insipid.
Now off to my final venue of the weekend, back where I started at the Hope and Ruin, to see two bands I had never come across before. They sounded like my sort of thing, and importantly they were playing in a pub not far from the station. I gave myself an hour to get in and only just succeeded, so again not down at the front.
The first act were the Cases, from Preston. Very young looking. Two chubby guitarists look like they are truanting from a school PE class. Tall thin jug eared lead singer. Not imposing to look at, but then they did one song as their warm up and I was hooked. Harry the lead singer has a great voice. They were just very good. Proper indie rock band. Will definitely try to see them again if they come London way.
One word to young Harry though. If you want sympathy as to how hot it is on stage, don't wear a cardigan, a garment renowned for keeping old people warm in winter!!!
I did notice as soon as they came off stage that Harry grabbed an inhaler so assume he is asthmatic. He came across as a nice young lad just playing with his mates. Great sound altogether. I hope they go far
Tough act for the Slates to follow. They are from across the Pennines in West Yorkshire. But they didn't lack for self confidence this lot. A little older than the previous act I guess, and a little more concentrated on entertaining the audience, not just sounding good. Difficult to quite describe their style as they dodged about a bit, some pure indie rock, an acoustic ballad thrown in, but sometimes felt a bit in the style of Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Very impressed at how rapid the turnover of acts at this venue; even with a proper soundcheck there was still only half an hour between performances. By this point I had wormed my way to the front. Unfortunately the girlfriends of two of the members did likewise next to me. Now I generally have ear plugs in my pockets but don't feel the need for them too often. I did here not to protect myself from the music, but from the screaming of these two girls!!
So like the Cases before them they did a quick soundcheck and then went off stage for ten minutes
One of the girls was evidently this lad's girlfriend
So back they come on stage for their set, this time the guitarist having stripped off his tracksuit top. While a decent enough looking lad, to my old eyes horribly disfigured by giant serpent tattoo on his torso. Why do these youngsters do this to themselves?
As I think I intimated, the lead singer doesn't lack self confidence. Nowhere near the vocal quality of the preceding act, but he gave it everything
The lead and other guitarist then went into an acoustic ballad, leaving the other lad and the drummer (who by now had also stripped to the waist - it was furnace hot) to sit together at the back to await their turn again. Sweet I thought.
An energetic performance. They gave it their all. Not as talented as the Cases before them, but very entertaining. Exciting even.
