Bedouin Soundclash at Newcastle University
Reviewed on Mar 20, 2007 by Stephen
I wasn't sure what I was expecting really when I walked into the venue tonight, I knew that The King Blues were the main support but wasn't sure if there was anyone else. So to walk in to Circuits was a bit of a culture shock to say the least.
Circuits are a boring attempt to jump on a bandwagon that never really exisited. Like the awful spawn of The Dead Sixties and The Ordinary Boys, that terrible "ska" scene that the NME tried to create for about 2 weeks a year or so ago. They play ska, of sorts, with really horrible whiney out of tune indie vocals, which wasn't even remotely listenable.
The King Blues are a different kettle of fish altogether, they burst onto stage with a massive burst of punk rock atttitude for an acoustic ska/reggae crossover. Singer Itch belting out his politically fuelled ideals with huge conviction and a great stage presence. The band strum their way through half of their set with an in your face fuck you attitude then gradually worked their way from more shouty songs into their more mellow songs, favourites of which were current single "Mr Music Man" and the ever sing along "Taking Over" where Itch splits the crowd right down the middle for a sing along competition and as quickly as they came they are gone. But a promising future beckons, perhaps Household Name have signed the next underground band ready to hit the mainstream punk circuit after Capdown and Lightyear.
Bedouin Soundclash are a band that I love, on CD they're a brilliant, chilled out ska/reggae crossover that can lighten any mood. Live however is not quite as straight forward. Especially since the band seem to have gained a massive fan base on the back of 1 song on a mobile phone advert and to me it seems like they don't really have enough songs to justify a set of 1 and a quarter hours containing lots of lengthening and new bits which aren't really heard on the albums. Not that bad a thing you might think but to the extent that some songs were virtually unrecognisable. Don't get me wrong, a generally good set, just in parts a little bit drawn out and somewhat boring. Which is a massive shame because if they played half an hour to 45 minutes it would be awesome. I found myself hoping it would be over soon, which wasn't ideal considering how much I like the band. They played things mainly from the Sounding a Mosaic album including a triumphant "Jeb Rand" and a not so good "Money Worries" other highlights included "Rude Boy Don't Cry" and "12:15 Lullaby" and obviously including that mobile phone song "When The Night Feels My Song".
Overall a good night just somewhat drawn out too much with a few sprinklings of highlights rather than a none stop hit parade.
Gig Information
| Venue: | Newcastle University |
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| Date: | March 19th, 2007 |
Support Acts:
The King Blues
Circuits
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| Viewed: | 649 times |
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