Good Weather For Airstrikes

With day one behind me and having finally found a hotel room for the remainder of the weekend, I caught a mid-day train back to Brighton and began to prepare myself for another night of great new music. Upon arriving I settled into my new digs, met up with Nicky and Arif for some food and began to prepare myself for another awesome night of music and debauchery.

I was all psyched to start my night off right with the one-two punch of Cut Off Your Hands and I Was A Cub Scout at the Drowned In Sound-curated showcase at Zap, so I made my way down to the seaside venue early so as to get a prime spot for the show.

ROLO TOMASSI (Zap, 7:00 PM) [MySpace]

I arrived at seven o’clock sharp, totally pumped to get my shit rocked by Cut Off Your Hands, but they, uh, weren’t there. Instead, Sheffield hardcorists Rolo Tomassi were taking the stage. Bummer. I’d heard a lot of praise bouncing around for Rolo over the last few months and the band looked like a nice bunch - four shaggy-haired fellows and a cute lead singer in short khaki shorts and a white top - as they took the stage. But as soon as they launched into their first song it became immediately apparent that this was NOT my thing.

Maybe it’s because I prefer my vocals sung (or even spoken) and not screamed, or maybe I just couldn’t handle such violent, abrasive shrieks (nay, roars) coming out of such a seemingly delicate, nice young girl, but yeah, this wasn’t for me. It was kind of like The Exorcist in a way. You’re like, “What a cute little girl” and then a few minutes later it’s all “OH JESUS” and you kind of want to run away. I didn’t run away, as I wasn’t about to miss out on I Was A Cub Scout, so I stayed and endured the rest of their set. The musicianship was impressive and the clever use of samples and electronic flourishes set them apart from most of the hardcore bands I’ve heard/seen, but yeah - never again, please. Feel free to check out their MySpace if this sounds like the kind of thing that gets you going, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Whatever, I was still pumped for I Was A Cub Scout. But unfortunately, they took like 30 minutes to set up and by the time they were finally ready to take the stage, I was in serious danger of missing the Video Nasties and I was NOT about to let that happen.

VIDEO NASTIES (Corn Exchange, 8:00 PM) [MySpace]

After basically sprinting across town we rolled up just as they were launching into the second track of their fantastic double A-side debut single, “3 New Ideas”, and it sounded great. The Corn Exchange was a massive venue, the biggest I saw all weekend, and while the crowd there only filled the front quarter of it, they did a good job of making it seem like they played that kind of place all the time, filling the place with their keyboard-heavy brand of catchy Britpop. “I Wanna”, the other track on that impressive debut, sounded brilliant as well, but unfortunately none of their other tracks they performed reached the same heights of their debut. Maybe it was just the wrong venue or maybe they just weren’t the kind of songs that clicked the first time you heard them or maybe they just really weren’t that good. Either way, I look forward to finding out when their follow-up single, “Doo Dah”, comes out in July on the consistently excellent WayOutWest label.

MP3s:
“I Wanna” - Video Nasties
“3 New Ideas” - Video Nasties

SCOUTING FOR GIRLS (King & Queen, 8:30) [MySpace]

Then it was off to the King & Queen pub for Scouting For Girls, one of the bands I was most excited to see at the festival, and they didn’t disappoint in the least. They opened brilliantly with an absolutely phenomenal rendition of “Elvis Ain’t Dead”, my favorite track by them, and while it easily all could of gone downhill it most certainly didn’t. The title track of their upcoming debut EP, “It’s Not About You”, followed and continued with the theme of enormously feel good, better-than-Air-Traffic (I said it!) piano rock. The incredibly endearing “I Wish I Was James Bond” and a few other ace tracks followed, before they closed perfectly with “Keep On Walking”, also available on the upcoming EP that’s out on Epic on June 25th and currently topping my Most Anticipated Debuts list. Now that Air Traffic’s gone all Keane on our asses (just wait for “Shooting Star” to drop next month), Scouting For Girls are officially the next great British piano-rock band to get excited about. Look for this lot to be all over the charts in no time at all.

MP3s:
“Elvis Ain’t Dead” (Demo) - Scouting For Girls ((highly recommended))
“Keep On Walking” - Scouting For Girls

AIR TRAFFIC (Audio, 9:30 PM) [MySpace]

Alright, I know I just called out Air Traffic on the mainstream-as-shit direction they’ve decided to go in, but that said, those first two singles (”Just Abuse Me” and “Never Even Told Me Her Name”, to be specific) will forever hold a cherished place in my heart as two of the most fantastic pieces of piano-centric pop to ever grace my ears. For that reason alone, I headed over to Audio with an optimistic attitude. And… they were decent. In their defense, the venue didn’t suit them at all (wayyy to small), had a fairly poor sound set-up and was absolutely PACKED, three elements that aren’t terribly conducive to a great live show. Still, the hits (”Just Abuse Me”, “Never Even Told Me Her Name”, “Charlotte”) were fantastic and their were a few other great tracks sprinkled throughout their set, but it was by no means a brilliant performance. I won’t pass a final judgment on them until I get a chance to hear all of Fractured Life, their debut album (out July 2nd), but let’s just say I’m significantly less excited about this band than I once was. But hey, we’ll always have those two initial singles.

MP3s:
“Just Abuse Me” - Air Traffic ((highly recommended))
“Never Even Told Me Her Name” - Air Traffic ((highly recommended))
“Shooting Star” (Demo) - Air Traffic

Despite very close set times and the tiny size of the Red Roaster Cafe, we did our best to get over there in time to catch Jack Penate, but… failed. At one point in the mad squeeze to get in, Luke Pritchard (of the Kooks) emerged from the doors and put an arm around Nicky on his way down the street, sending the ridiculously attractive (and ridiculously in-high-school) girls behind us into fits of near-hysterics as soon as they realized who he was. Thus, they proceeded to tag along with us as we followed Luke to the Willy Mason gig that was about to start across town. Alas, we were shut out yet again, as Mason was the hottest ticket in town on Saturday night, so we headed back down to where we started at Audio to catch Kid Harpoon’s acoustic performance, which was - suffice it to say - not a bad alternative in the least.

KID HARPOON (Audio, 11:15 PM) [MySpace]

I’m gonna be real with you: I was pretty fucking drunk at this point. That said, I know I had an awesome time and that I really loved it when he played “Riverside”, the only song of his I knew heading into the weekend, but any further review beyond that would just be pointless. But here, download his debut single, “Riverside, below - it’s really really great.

MP3: “Riverside” - Kid Harpoon ((highly recommended))

After Harpoon we parted ways with our underage compatriots (I promise) and made our way back to the hotel, at which point I made the conscious (alright, semi-conscious) decision to drink more with my friends rather than catch the brilliant Transgressive showcase across town. I had a great time, but certainly regretted it in the morning when I woke up with a substantial hangover and the realization that I passed on three of the best bands of the weekend (Mechanical Bride, Battle, Foals). But whatever, it happens. Check back tomorrow for coverage of day three and an exclusive review of the best band of the entire weekend. Cheers.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 25th, 2007 at 11:11 pm and is filed under Live Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.