Flytrap at the George Tavern

I won't lie. The George Tavern is not in the most salubrious part of town. Proper East London.  I walk there from Shadwell which is as grim as it sounds. But inside its a rather nice pub venue with Victorian tiled bar to the rear. I was making a second visit here on a Sunday night just because I had nothing better to do and had enjoyed the main act, Flytrap, when I had seen them before. Also tickets were cheaper than a pint. Actually cheaper than a half pint in most places, so whats not to like?

Opening act, above, were called Lackaday and this was their debut performance, to a crowd that frankly wasn't large enough to fit the name. More small gathering. Which was a pity as they were pretty good. At the end I said to the guy nearest camera on the shot above that it might be just that as an old man all young people look the same, but I thought I had seen him play here before. He confirmed I had, when playing in a different band called Rampressure. I feel this one is a better bet. Indeed I would have seen them again here if it wasn't that I had a ticket to the theatre. And a real pity as my play was cancelled at last minute otherwise I could have gone.

Now for this gig I had managed to take up a seat at the side in a worn leather armchair. And if front of stage had been occupied by spectators my view would have been obscured. But that didn't happen because after Lackaday left two blokes arrived in their early thirties I guess, totally pissed or high, and for the next few acts proceeded to flail around in an uncoordinated manner which meant that everyone gave them a wide berth and stood at the back leaving the whole area empty.

(And if you are wondering how drunk/drugged they were, one of them came up and introduced himself to me. And then introduced himself to me again 5 minutes later!)

Now what surprises me having started going to these very low level gigs watched by audiences in double figures is how good some of the bands are. But I won't lie to you, the standard, or at least appeal to me, varies significantly. So to get 5 acts for the princely sum of £4 (and a couple of drinks, optional) is a bargain, but not all were worth listening to, and it cam all be a bit haphazard. If I am watching Snow Patrol at the O2 for the best part of £100 I expect slick. Here I am willing to cut a lot more slack. 😂 

So the second support were called Paper Hats, and I think they were listed as the main support but switched to suit their timing, and even then one of the band members turned up late. They were utterly unremarkable except maybe for the bagginess of the latecomers trousers which could have fitted a fat elephant let alone a skinny guitarist. See below which does look like a skirt from this angle....

Lighthaus as the middle act were interesting, but not good. Interesting in that their lead vocalist had the best voice of all the bands by a country mile. Also musically you could see what they were trying to do, be sophisticated and not just traditional indie verse chorus repeat. But instead it just came over as all over the place doodling.

Penultimate act were now Kitchen Lover. They were a show in themselves. They all wore shorts, as if this wasn't a cold February evening (and trust me it was a cold February evening) and shortly into the set the slightly tubby lead singer proceeded to strip off his t-shirt, followed a little later by the rather more attractively built guitarist. A pity the audience was small as they put so much into it. But didn't sound particularly wonderful.

As you can see, not exactly a crowd

And finally Flytrap, for whom sadly the audience was even smaller (I suspect at this level a significant part of the audience consists of mates of the band, so more a popularity contest than assurance of quality.) You won't have come across them. Don't seem to have much online presence but I did find one YouTube video of them playing here before. Honestly I think they are very talented. Like Lighthaus they were going for a sound more sophisticated than straightforward verse chorus stuff, but this didn't sound so random. Also like that they have one male and one female singer, not so much singing in harmony as counterpoint. Indeed I did say to the lead singer, who also is a good guitarist, that I thought they were very talented, and he thanked me and said he appreciated that. Not sure if secretly he was wondering why a pensioner was there and talking to him at all! But I feel if you are playing in front of an audience measured in tens it can't hurt to get some encouragement.

 

And oh yes in addition to guitar and vocals he plays flute. (And looks so skinny he might struggle to lift a guitar!)