Well, on Tuesday we had our first Kids Don't Stand A Chance gig. Despite all the red tape, the bureaucracy, drama with bands and health and safety problems on the 14th of July we ran our event in Oh Yeah Music Centre, Belfast. With coverage in the Irish News, the News Letter and AU (not to mention more viral/guerilla marketing that you can shake a stick at) we were hoping for a big crowd. That didn't materialise, sadly, for a number of reasons but we've learnt our lesson now. Perhaps the Belfast scenesters aren't familiar with LaFaro or A Plastic Rose (possible), our promotion was abysmal (certainly possible), and that there were so many different events going on that our target audience was scattered around Belfast to say the least (most likely).
However, this is a music blog, not a charity blog so here's the lowdown. Gigging Northern Ireland (who I've been doing a fair bit of work with) have a review by the lovely Finola Doran up here which is well worth a read, while my thoughts are below.
The Postbox Theory took to the stage and looked nervous as hell. Their first song of the night seemed to reflect this: the obvious self confidence documented on their first EP was clearly missing. After the first track those nerves were cast aside: hell, we even see a smile from Zach. There's a dark energy that seems to run through the band: they're certainly not your typical teenagers. The new tracks we heard had a air of Smashing Pumpkins about them but retained the unique experimental elements that we've come to know the band for. The track of the night had to be the instrumental "Mirrors": a moody little song that really turned heads at the concert and the only track from their debut EP.
The Audiables delivered an acoustic set that was as much as a throwback to the 60s and 70s as the drummer's hair was a throwback to Ian Brown's Stone Roses days. Armed with a crowd of teenage groupies that sat down in the front row and swayed to the music, the band drilled out song after song from a bygone age. "Behind Closed Doors" and "Free My Soul" have a bluesy vibe about them: nothing original, nothing new, but it's nice to listen to. They've got a cockiness about them, assured and confident, but the set feels a little bit long and a little repetitive. A full set would probably ease my doubt about the band.
A Plastic Rose certainly raised the bar with their performance: for the majority of the audience it was the first time they had seen the band and from the sounds of it it certainly won't be the last. Tracks like "The Colour Blue" and "Superspeed" gain a surprisingly warm reaction from the crowd, while the band are a prime example of an act that has evolved over the years into a professional music machine. The one inevitable problem in playing such a small venue is that sound can suffer and it was most evident in APR's performance: those devastating harmonies we've come to know and love from Ian and Gerry don't come across that well. That's a small point in an otherwise faultless performance: we even get a "fuck yeah!" from a member of the audience when "Silence, You" begins. The track of the set has to be "Kids Don't Behave Like This" dedicated to the legend that is Matthew Patton, which features awesome drumming and those lovely vocals from Gerry (which range from tender, emotional, enraged then screaming) in a song that gradually builds up into a frenzied finale. Thumbs up, lads.
Due to the Audiables running over time, Lafaro took to the stage later than scheduled and the crowd by this stage were starting to dwindle. A huge shame, because Lafaro quite frankly tore me a new one. Rollicking wouldn't do the band justice. This is punk rock, my friends, it's loud, it's proud and it doesn't say sorry. Fans of Taking Back Sunday don't know what punk is. We're treated to a couple of new tracks: at one point Jonny decides not to tell the audience what the track titles are, as apparently they're irrelevant. Those sound limitations become a hell of a lot more obvious during Lafaro's set as we can barely hear Jonny's vocals because the bass is terrifyingly loud, the drums are pounding and the guitars are grating against our eardrums. The younger members of our audience experience ringing ears within seconds.
I've been pretty excited about the debut album and after this performance I can barely wait. The new songs sound so strong: "Chopper" and "Party Hardy Marty" are destined to be classics while the band seem confident enough to throw "Tuppenny Nudger" into the middle of the set instead of closer to the end. The guitar amps cut out at one point and the performance quickly turns into a comedy extravaganza with Michael Jackson jokes a plenty and more inappropriate jokes than you can shake a stick at. Personally, I'm cringing, as it's my head on the line if the parents complain, but normal service is eventually resumed. The crowd, by the end of the set, had dwindled to just over 18 people, so we're told to come right to the front for the final song. Bad move on my part standing right beside a speaker. The first chord rings out of "Leningrad" and my ears still haven't stopped ringing.
The turnout wasn't great, but the music was class. Tonight we saw a class act in the making (The Postbox Theory), a band that have grown into a solid act over the years (A Plastic Rose) and a band that is on the fringes of greatness in Lafaro. Roll on Newry!