Clowns To The Left Of Me, Jokers To The Right...

It’s occurred to me before that local gigs might be difficult to write about; most people reading this have probably never heard of the bands mentioned. For some reason, I thought for a moment that this made the reviews pointless before realising that it made them even more important. Now, after reading this review, I invite you to find yourself at gigs with any or all of these bands and decide for yourself your opinions. I am merely a candle by which to light the way. Apparently.

Local bands are fun. There’s always a debate raging of whether or not you can criticise them for their performances. Generally, unsigned bands hate being criticised and scrutinised but, in my opinion, if a band of any calibre can’t take it, then they should really reconsider their future in music industry. That said, most of them are just there for a laugh, to have fun and make a few bucks here and there which is fair enough. But there’s a difference between having a good time and letting yourself slip.

Our story begins at the Westport Bar, 8pm on Thursday the 17th of August, 2006. After receiving multiple emails from some of the bands involved, I decided that this night would be a great opportunity to get dug in to some new bands, all of which I was unfamiliar with. Opening the set were the Velocettes, playing to a smaller audience than most had anticipated; alas, the curse of first band up. Now, I’ve heard things about this band, I’ve heard their recordings on MySpace and, through word of mouth, I became somewhat excited about seeing them. Unfortunately, I was less than rewarded for my anticipation, finding instead a rather sub-par performance. The sound system (admittedly, not the bands fault) was a little too loud, to the point where all sounds melded together and became grey. The songs are brilliantly written and where as they aren’t something completely new, the Velocettes certainly have talent, even if it was wasted tonight. And as far as the showmanship is concerned, to be perfectly honest, the whole performance seemed much more like a practice session rather than a live show. And vocal harmonies need a think, guys.

Next up, the Grace Emily’s who came across immediately as much more refined. Their sound was clear, clean and invigorating, their music much more polished and professional. They knew they were playing to an audience who had paid to see them and they lived up to expectations too. After hearing a few of their songs numerous times on their MySpace page (god-bless MySpace), I was glad to hear their live performance was as good as, if not better than the online recordings. Playing the crowd is always important to local bands and the Grace Emily’s gave us something to watch, though, due to the size of the guy in front of me, I pretty much failed to see them at all. The music was more important. All in all for the ‘Emily’s I would offer only once piece of advice; spread your wings a little. About half way through the set, I found myself losing attention as the songs began to melt together, each one becoming the next, just a little differently. ‘Samey’ is what I would say, but nevertheless, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Just fine tune it.

The Harlequin Abattoir’s were the main attraction, performing just as spectacularly as usual. They were also the band who invited me along and for that, I send my grateful thanks. Luckily for them, I had nothing to really pick up on and so have nothing really to bitch about. The sound was clean and clear, the songs were strong and fresh and the one band member in particular actually promoted the band anonymously in the bathroom, which made me laugh. Again with the MySpace, the Harlequin’s produced top-quality renditions of their recorded songs along with some others; I may be wrong, but I think I could pick out some new material? I’m not too sure, but whether it was new or not, it was good. The songs were different enough to hold your attention and yet they all held a crystalline quality that held them all together. Ending the story, late, late on, the Harlequin’s are a band to watch.

To hear the songs for yourself, don’t forget to visit the forum and check the ‘Links’ section.

M_x <3