If you want my full review/thoughts on what this whole Britbus day was all about and how it panned out, then click here, otherwise if all you want to read about is the concert itself, then carry on.
Beatnic Prestige were up first, and on fire! The Bongo Club is shaped like a coffee filter paper - curved and longer at the top than on the bottom - non coffee drinkers check out your local supermarket - and, as I found out, it did make a difference to the sound depending on where you stood in the hall - for all the bands, that is, other than Beatnic Prestige. They came on stage, plugged in and delivered the cleanest sounding set of the day. You could hear everything - the guitars, the rhythm section, the vocals - clear as a bell. Full of enthusiasm to make an impression, their 25 minute set - all the bands had just 25 mins each - was filled with their individual brand of fast-paced, catchy-as-hell, harmony-laden, guitars-driven, hi-octane contemporary indie-mod rock 'n'roll. They immediately took the hearts of the crowd as everyone seemed to be dancing. Rachel next to me, commented on how good the lead guitar player was, while I was being carried away by the songs and the clean bill of energy that carried them along as the bass & drums provided the propulsion and the rhythm guitar, the texture. The excellent, sadly non-radio friendly, "9 Clicks" was delivered sounding every bit as enthusiastic and catchy as the EP version while they took a couple of minutes to deliver a witty ballad before surging into the anthemic "Doubtfire" to end a thoroughly satisfying set.
After a short break, it was Dundee's The Daze chance to shine - and, in front of a small army of followers, they didn't disappoint. With rhythm guitarist and singer Robbie encouraging the crowd to join in, lead guitarist Scott unleashed the high register lead that introduced "Young, Free and Easy", as the band erupted into action and the whole place was engulfed in a wall of guitars surfing on a giant rhythm section wave, Robbie's vocals soaring from the PA system, every bit the nuclear bomb after the previous band's rifle-fire. That they charged through two slices of Daze magic from the first EP, was expected and worked a treat, "All The Same" carrying the entire audience along on its insistently memorable guitar riffs as the addiction was established and The Daze guitar hurricane taking no prisoners. What wasn't expected - by me, anyway - was that they would dare to end such a short set with the 8 or so minutes of the new epic track, "Music Is My Maker". On paper, it would seem to have been a bit of a gamble, bearing in mind it's essentially a competition, but when they surged into this huge sounding song that just built its intensity as it went on, with Robbie's vocals sounding impassioned and emotive over the now high-flying guitar lead from Scott, the pounding drumming from Rab, Alan's bass cutting through the foundations and Robbie's rhythm guitar squall, the glue that held it all together, the effect was positively jaw-dropping, Alan even at one point climbing onto the front amp to tower over the audience, while the two left-handed guitarists took the place by storm, at the end of it all, earning as strong a reception as the band deserved.
It was the first time I'd seen the Isle Of Lewis based band, Our Lunar Activities and, for once, I wished I'd not heard their myspace tracks before I'd seen them. You see, the myspace tracks are immense sounding, highly polished, well arranged, sparking, adrenaline- inducing anthems that are just spot on, but I don't think I was quite prepared for the rawness of sound that started the live set. The opening song I did recognise from the myspace tracks and that counted, so that while I didn't get the rush of emotion that I thought I might, I did nevertheless appreciate what is a highly charged song delivered with confidence and another strong sea of dual guitar fire. Further songs showed a strident sense of dynamics and although I felt that a lot of the textural qualities of what the band's songs are all about, were kind of lost in the more down-to-earth sound that the band unleashed. But, like The Daze, they ended bravely with an instrumental that was as much rock as it was indie, showcased some stirring dual guitar work and, as much as The Daze could bear the Oasis comparison, this came across as a strong but tried and tested rock guitar instrumental, the likes of which we've seen and heard many times before. But, and I go back to the myspace tracks, this band are hot - just that this wasn't the concert, in my opinion, that reinforced that. I'd love to see this band play a full set in another setting - that is, assuming that they've not strangled me first after reading this!!No doubt, you'll find out...
The Strand are from Glasgow - I think - and, again, I'd not seen them before and, again, I'd listened to their myspace tracks before attending, to rate them very much in the indie-rock mould alongside a band such as The Trade. Here, what I wasn't prepared for, and couldn't help but admire, was the unbelievable electrical energy with which they supercharged their set. Honestly, you could have powered Edinburgh for a week on the energy this band put out. To say that a typhoon of indie-rock erupted from the PA is even understating things, as the band tore about the stage wielding guitars like scimitars, unleashing a fiery concoction of adrenaline-rush dual guitar electricity and strom force rhythms to which you couldn't help but surrender and actually enjoy the whole experience. But there was one problem - once all this was over, I couldn't recall a single song they'd played. Now, before you think this is a put-down, it isn't - well, it is, but you have to say that the band played a blinder of a set to such a degree that you were more aware of that than the actual nature of the songs. However, the songs are good - you know that from the myspace evidence - so it's just a question of familiarity breeding enhanced enjoyment. Again, can't wait to see them again.
The event ended with a set from Edinburgh's The Debuts, the only band of the night to use keyboards, and, immediately, the whole textural structure and, indeed, the song structure, changed to the opposite end of the spectrum from which the evening had begun. The Debuts inject a lot more influences into their songs so that at times you'll hear everything from deep sounding harmony-laden anthems through slight ska touches to songs that are pure indie-pop with strength and character. Initally seeming a little nervous, the set got stronger as it progressed, the band's confidence shining through, so that the songs from the EP, propelled by the slightly UB 40-ish vocal from the lead singer, really shone out, the band providing a multi-layered backdrop of keys, guitars and rhythms that ranged from strident to staccato, but always solid and purposeful. "That Way" (I think it was that track!!) was every bit the anthem you knew qand loved from the EP, the band letting their full emotion of singing and playing to make the trasck every bit as magical as you'd hope, the presence of the synth texture contrasting with and complementing, the surge of guitar fire, while the vocals easily flew overhead. That the band finished with "City Lockdown" was the right thing to do, as this is their catchiest number on the EP and must have left a lot of the audience with its hook lines swirling throutgh their heads as they left the hall thoroughly satisfied with both band and the night in general.