Sweet Unrest and the Vapors at Dingwalls

Normally I just title these entries based on the headliner, but for this gig I think it is only fair to give equal billing to the support act. In part I say that because the headliners aren't exactly a household name themselves, although their one hit song is - Turning Japanese. But also this felt like a changing of the guard, as the two acts were rather like bookends in age/development. The support are at the start of their careers in sort of post punk territory, the Vapors at the other end, being from the original 1970s punk movement (basically my era!)

This isn't a gig that had been in my calendar for months. Only booked it at the beginning of the week because I had nothing on for a Sunday night and thought it might be good fun. And it was. There is a lot of appeal for me in what I would disrespectfully describe as such a low level gig - my guess is audience was about 150. Price is a factor - most such gigs are around a tenner (this rather more as the Vapors have a "name"). But if you went to see Oasis say, would you find yourself chatting to a band member in a deserted hall? And frankly, I think I would hate talking to a Gallagher brother, whereas the guitarist I talked to was a delightfully affable young man. I am afraid I don't know his name or anyone else in the band.

Also, no difficulty in getting down the front (a major consideration when you are my height).

And when you go to see live music, you really do go to SEE it, not just hear it. There are bands I go to see but who offer little to the eye, just because I like listening to them (Interpol springs to mind), but I like the extrovert antics of the lead vocalist. A natural front man. The rest of the band managed to look comfortable and cool, like they wee actually enjoying the experience. I do like to see a band who look like friends sharing an experience, and not just going through the motions. But I did feel sorry for them trying to play like they had a big crowd, when in practice they were confronted by a sparse group of (to be charitable) middle aged folk awaiting someone else. But honestly Sweet Unrest  were great.

And another thing I learned from this experience. I had done a little homework on the support in advance by looking at some You Tube videos (I am prepared to see an unknown band but just want to check their stuff is somewhere in my taste range) and while they passed my taste check, and looked good fun to see, the vocals seemed pretty poor. But its punk - that used to be normal back in the day. But actually the lead singer's vocals were perfectly fine. The difference was the sound system compared to someone videoing them in back of a pub. I did say that to the lead singer afterwards (yes another chat at their merch stall, but needless to say I wasn't in the market for a t-shirt, just to find out where I could see them again) and he said the difference was here he could actually hear himself!

Anywhere, here are some shots of Sweet Unrest; best I could manage as Dingwalls has crap lighting. Any shots of the lead singer risked getting a a flash of very bright light which blitzed out the entire shot (and blinded me at regular intervals). And I don't know who thought the spots filter was a good idea. Groovy in sixties dance hall maybe, but....

Proper rock guitar band would recommend going to see them, if you can find when and where they a are playing. Gave the lead singer my mobile number so he could text me when they had more gigs lined up - unfortunately I am fully booked for the next month so what was in their calendar was no good for me. And sweetly/annoyingly a quick search for their website only revealed "upcoming gigs" that had long passed.😃

Lead vocalist looks rather better without the fur hat. It wasn't that cold.....

This was the nice young chap that chatted to me before the gig

So then onto the Vapors. Well this was interesting. As I said, even for them as opposed to the support, this was not a big crowd. But there were a few people with their Vapors t-shirts who could sing along to their songs, so they have a following. And they sounded good. I enjoyed the set. But there was one big contrast to the support. And its age related. Sorry to sound ageist, but its relevant.

So the Vapors have two original band members, being Dave Fenton on lead vocals and the bass guitarist. They have a younger West Indian drummer, and a much younger lead guitarist, who is actually Dave Fenton's son. (Fun fact, Dave Fenton, like me, was a solicitor. It's not all rock and roll.)

So here is Dave Fenton in background and son Danny in foreground illuminated by the horrid spotty lighting.

The shot below gives you an idea of the problem of taking photos. That bright white light that at any given moment could wipe out my shot (and retina)

So here, above great father and son shot, is the point to bring up the age thing again. Because this young man absolutely carried his dad. The show would have been nothing without this lad. He was not only lead guitar, but the total focal point of the entire show. He introduced the band members, ran around the stage, did all the audience interaction. It was really him and the very enthusiastic drummer, who was also terrific. 

So are the Vapors worth seeing? Yes, totally down to the son. Musically they are fine but just nothing memorable apart from Turning Japanese which is such a great song.The young man on lead guitar is a real star. Time for a new generation. At least stick the lad in spotlight!