Gig Diary August 2012  

The Grand/Jonny Firth and the Bastards/The Daisy Cutters @ The Hop, Wakefield

Its the dog days of Summer and gigs are a bit more sparse than normal. Not only that but so it seems are audiences. When I step into the upstairs room at the Hop a band are already on the stage. Apart from myself the audience is made up of a solitary girl and the soundman. There are more people on stage (five) than off it. The Daisy Cutters are a lively heavy rock band from Castleford. They are quite good humored about the lack of audience. The music is not bad. My main gripes are about the guitarist with what looked like a white Gretsch semi-acoustic. He wasn't very good. Also they did a pretty average sounding cover of the Stooges 'I wanna be your dog'. Their own songs were melodic and grungy/punky. I thought the rest of the band (except the offending guitarist) were pretty ok.

Tonight its Jonny Firth again (he only played here a couple of weeks ago). His backing band (the charmingly named Bastards) consists of Nicci on drums on Mickey P Kerr on bass. The set has a dramatic begining with Nicci starting a fierce metronomic beat. Unfortunately Jonny's knackered his guitar. Still even with the weird looking instrument he borrows from the Grand he sounds pretty good. Mickey's bass playing is improving and the band are a tight bluesy threesome with a mixture of great tunes and punky energy. Ryan Spendlove and Hayley Gaffartanick (spelling?) also nip on stage to provide backing vocals to the anthemic 'Damages'.

The Grand are another three piece but play a completely different style. They sound to be influenced by the likes of Echo and the Bunnymen, early Simple Minds and early U2. They have an anthemic but edgy sound. Unfortunately the style of the vocals came make things sound a little bit samey. They could also do with a couple of killer tunes. But they are tight as hell and its nice to hear somebody from Wakefield going for a different style of music.

Micky P Kerr/Hayley Gaftarnick/Rich Wells/Halsted Clan @ Oporto, Leeds

Tonight is for charity as the be-wigged compere never tires of reminding us. He's a likeable enough chap. I just wish he'd remember that the whole point of having a mike is that you don't need to shout.

First up is the Halsted Clan who are a father and son duo from Bradford. They are quite indebted to fifties musical styles. They are ok.

Rich Wells is a be-tatooed bloke. As befits his image the music is a little overwrought in a good way. Its all a bit gothic and he does rather a good version of 'Folsom Prison Blues'.

Hayley Gaftarnick is sharp of tounge and has a good voice. She good naturedly spars with the compere. Her songs are ok but playing solo shows up the similarity of a lot of the numbers.

This is the first time I've seen Micky P Kerr in his own right. His songs aren't bad - a bit like Noel Gallagher b sides back when that was a good thing. However once he starts on his poetry I am totally won over. I think this guy is naturally funny and perhaps this is where he should concentrate his efforts.

Quidrophenia @ Oporto, Leeds

Its Bank Holiday Monday after a week off work so to keep my mind off the impending doom awaiting me at the office its off to a mini-festival in Leeds to drink beer and listen to music.

First up was the Sonic Seeds. To be honest they were on in the room next door and we had seats so we listened rather than watched. Sounded not bad. As the name implies (Sonics and Seeds) they seem to be influenced by sixties US garage rock.

Gary Stewart played his ususal exemplary set next. We persuaded a German girl to go and buy a cd off him.

The next band next door still couldn't persuade us to move in to watch them. They were called Scams and they sounded dead good. They had guitars and a synth (I did pop my head round to have a quick nosey).

Next in our room was Ross Day. A young shy singer songwriter. He was pretty good without being extraordinary. Reminded me a little of Johnny Flynn.

I was finally dragged off my feet into the next door room to watch the Reacharounds. The drummer is my favourite barman in Leeds (simply because he's friendly and doesn't ignore you for half an hour). Anyway they play heavy rock in the mould of things like AC/DC and Black Crowes. It sounds pretty cool.

After a break for tea we pop back and catch Harry Ridgeway who's another non-descript singer songwriter. Pleasant enough but not memorable.

Alaska then play next door and I am pretty blown away. Their initial songs kind of remind me of the Strokes in the way the two guitarists mesh and some of the chords they play. But really they are much more varied and less limited than that band. Check them out.

Its becoming a bit of a struggle for the artists on the acoustic stage due to the size of the crowd and amount of talking going on. Soulmates never Die is one man (despite the name) and is quite good. He has a kind of emo take on the normal singer songwriter style that makes him stand out a little.

Moody Gowns don't really grab me after Alaska. To be honest they remind me a bit of Kaiser Chiefs!

Finally we get something a bit different on the acoustic stage. Witch Hunt are a duo who sound like they have a drum machine (or backing tapes) - can't really see. The female singer has an amazing voice. A bit reminiscent of PJ Harvey. I don't really pay that much attention to them but they sound great.

Heart Ships are the act I've been looking forward to the most. So I have to admit I was slightly disappointed. Maybe it was the sound, maybe the beer but they didn't sound on top of their game. They did their normal Wagnerian thing but it didn't sound as epic as normal. Mrs Windbag reckons the singer's vocals may not have been loud enough.

No such problem for Jonny Firth and his Bastards. They play a rollicking rock 'n' roll set which impresses everybody listening. Rosie Doonan, Hayley Gaftarnick and some bloke who I've seen play piano with Jonny before jump on board for some backing vocals. They are ok but you can't help feel they are stealing the Bastards limelight a little standing centre stage and crowding out poor old Mickey P Kerr on bass.

Finally China Rats round off the night with some energetic Ash style punk. It pales for me a bit after a while but the crowd love it.

Allo Darling/This Many Boyfriends/Imp @ The Hop, Wakefield

First up were local band Imp. I still can't quite make my mind up with these. After a couple of excellent performances earlier this year I've been a bit disappointed the last two times I've seen them. The sound was a bit muddy but they just didn't have the spark that they had before.

This Many Boyfriends come from Leeds have connections with the Cribs and are getting bigged up in the NME. On the evidence of the first few songs its hard to see what the fuss is about. The drummer keeps time but is very pedestrian, the singer is enthusisatic but not the best and the songs sound a little like a more twee Cribs. Then they unleash a song called 'Number One'. This is much better - a bit reminiscent of the Smiths. However the rest of the set is back as you were. I enjoyed the enthusiasm of the singer but currently these aren't a band that I am going to be seeking out.

Thankfully Allo Darling were excellent. I didn't know anything about them apart from they have quite an 'indie' reputation. So I expected something shambling, amateurish and twee. Thankfully they are nothing of the sort. They had great songs and presence. The musicianship was first class as well. I would definitley recommend you come and see this lot.