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Sonic Boom Six
Friday 29 May, 2009
The Maze, Nottingham
Support: Random Hand + Dirty Revolution + Girlfixer + We Are The Man
The build-up to tonight’s gig has been immense and painstakingly long – I first heard about this several months ago, and have been eagerly awaiting the night ever since. Sonic Boom 6 are my favourite UK act of the moment, and have been for a while – followed in a close second place by Random Hand. To have both of them on the same bill is an exciting proposition indeed. The allure of the bill was evident in the venue being half full before the first band were on, and being 95% full by the time of the second band, which is always impressive for any gig!
To start the night off, we have local act WE ARE THE MAN. This band will always have a bit of a cult following in Nottingham, mainly because the guitarist is none other than local ska promoter-legend Gaz, who has organised tonight’s gig and many fine others with his promotions company, Revolution Sounds. As a band, however, I found We Are The Man slightly lacking. For a start they were missing a member tonight, as the saxophonist/backing singer is on holiday in France. The band started off with some classic ska-style numbers, but progressed on to dropping a few more reggae songs in to boot. Sadly, the singer could not hold his voice at the notes he was attempting to reach, which detracted from an otherwise average, if unremarkable performance. Obviously not all ska singers need to have the best voice (just look at Lars Frederiksen) but if this is the case then you need to adapt your singing style to suit, which hasn’t happened here. However, with a bit of work I’m sure this band could improve further, and regardless they were a fun act to watch.
Another local band, GIRLFIXER, is next to take to the stage – this is their first gig in several months as they have had a bit of time off due to injuries and holidays. If you didn’t know this, however, you wouldn’t have been able to tell, as the band were as tight as the last time I saw them and just as entertaining – if not more so! They have their own unique punk sound, in which the influence of The Distillers is apparent but not overwhelmingly so. The singer has a great set of lungs on her, with a fine growl and scream thrown in for good measure. The band show off their touring experience with a highly energetic set, with each member giving their all to make the performance stand out – in particular, I am as always impressed with the bassist, Lance, who literally cannot stand still and throws his instrument around all over the place yet still doesn’t miss a note, even with the classic ‘throw it round your head’ move. The one sour note is a lack of much banter between songs with the crowd, although when mentioning their merchandise for sale they did say that their t-shirts make good tea towels (though they’d rather you just wore them instead). The crowd loved the performance, with a fine mosh pit dominating the floor for most of the set, sweaty bodies throwing themselves all over the place regardless of the obscene amount of heat in the room from the combination of the summer’s day, a big crowd and it being a relatively small room. The band closed their set with their anthemic and very catchy tune “You Will Regret This”, which they have a rather good video on YouTube for. Definitely a band worth checking out.
After a brief respite to cool down ever so slightly, we are treated to the Cardiff-based DIRTY REVOLUTION. Another female-fronted band, this is my second time seeing them and they have improved on what was already a highly competent performance. They have an accomplished ska-punk sound, with some nice catchy hooks and a flawless performance. The band has obviously been on the road a lot before, and has a good bit of crowd engagement between songs. The music is very easy to listen to, and I found myself irresistibly drawn into a bit of skanking without consciously realising it. Once again, they are a band I would highly recommend you have a listen to.
As the night draws on, we get to Keighley’s most famous export, RANDOM HAND. (I don’t know if they are really the most famous thing from Keighley, but as I’ve never heard of anything else from there I shall assume that they are.) Random Hand seem to be having a fantastic year so far – they’ve toured the country supporting the legendary Reel Big Fish, put out a brilliant new album ‘Inhale/Exhale’ on Rebel Alliance, played a blinding set at Slam Dunk festival in Leeds earlier this week, had a great tour with Sonic Boom 6 and are soon to release a single and video off the new album. Looking back at my notes for their set, my eyes are drawn mainly to two words written large and bold above everything else – “FUCKING GOOD!” The singer, Robin, gives some great credit to the bands on before, in particular saying of Dirty Revolutions “the bass line was so intense while I was having a shit upstairs it made everything come out a lot easier”. Thanks for that Robin. The set list had everything a Random Hand fan would want to hear on it, with the best tracks of their first and second albums all featuring, along with some great entertainment for the crowd too. If they carry on like this, 2009 is definitely going to be an awesome year for them.
Finally we come to the pinnacle of the night, SONIC BOOM 6. They took the brave decision for this tour to play out the whole of their new album, ‘City of Thieves’ – apparently this choice hasn’t worked brilliantly on every gig, but overall they’ve been happy with the response. I know from seeing their set at Slam Dunk festival that it has gone down fairly well in most places, but it builds up the crowd reaction even better for when they play out some of the older songs towards the end of the set. Tonight sees a packed crowd (not bad considering they don’t take to the stage till nearly 1am) treated to ‘City of Thieves’ right through from Track 1 almost all the way through the album. As it seems most of the crowd had heard that this was what the Boom would be treating us too, it was apparent that a large portion had done their research and so had an appreciation for the new songs already. Just like at Slam Dunk, probably the best reaction came for ‘Strange Transformations’, the tale we all recognise of chav culture turning to violence on nights out. When the new stuff was finished and they moved on to ‘People Ack Like They Don’t Know’, the already hectic crowd went into overdrive. The dance floor was a glorious heaving and sweaty mess. A few songs later, and the Boom finished their set to rapturous applause, and ended up returning to the stage for an encore performance of ‘All-In’. A fantastic end to an absolutely epic night.
Friday 29 May, 2009
The Maze, Nottingham
Support: Random Hand + Dirty Revolution + Girlfixer + We Are The Man
The build-up to tonight’s gig has been immense and painstakingly long – I first heard about this several months ago, and have been eagerly awaiting the night ever since. Sonic Boom 6 are my favourite UK act of the moment, and have been for a while – followed in a close second place by Random Hand. To have both of them on the same bill is an exciting proposition indeed. The allure of the bill was evident in the venue being half full before the first band were on, and being 95% full by the time of the second band, which is always impressive for any gig!
To start the night off, we have local act WE ARE THE MAN. This band will always have a bit of a cult following in Nottingham, mainly because the guitarist is none other than local ska promoter-legend Gaz, who has organised tonight’s gig and many fine others with his promotions company, Revolution Sounds. As a band, however, I found We Are The Man slightly lacking. For a start they were missing a member tonight, as the saxophonist/backing singer is on holiday in France. The band started off with some classic ska-style numbers, but progressed on to dropping a few more reggae songs in to boot. Sadly, the singer could not hold his voice at the notes he was attempting to reach, which detracted from an otherwise average, if unremarkable performance. Obviously not all ska singers need to have the best voice (just look at Lars Frederiksen) but if this is the case then you need to adapt your singing style to suit, which hasn’t happened here. However, with a bit of work I’m sure this band could improve further, and regardless they were a fun act to watch.
Another local band, GIRLFIXER, is next to take to the stage – this is their first gig in several months as they have had a bit of time off due to injuries and holidays. If you didn’t know this, however, you wouldn’t have been able to tell, as the band were as tight as the last time I saw them and just as entertaining – if not more so! They have their own unique punk sound, in which the influence of The Distillers is apparent but not overwhelmingly so. The singer has a great set of lungs on her, with a fine growl and scream thrown in for good measure. The band show off their touring experience with a highly energetic set, with each member giving their all to make the performance stand out – in particular, I am as always impressed with the bassist, Lance, who literally cannot stand still and throws his instrument around all over the place yet still doesn’t miss a note, even with the classic ‘throw it round your head’ move. The one sour note is a lack of much banter between songs with the crowd, although when mentioning their merchandise for sale they did say that their t-shirts make good tea towels (though they’d rather you just wore them instead). The crowd loved the performance, with a fine mosh pit dominating the floor for most of the set, sweaty bodies throwing themselves all over the place regardless of the obscene amount of heat in the room from the combination of the summer’s day, a big crowd and it being a relatively small room. The band closed their set with their anthemic and very catchy tune “You Will Regret This”, which they have a rather good video on YouTube for. Definitely a band worth checking out.
After a brief respite to cool down ever so slightly, we are treated to the Cardiff-based DIRTY REVOLUTION. Another female-fronted band, this is my second time seeing them and they have improved on what was already a highly competent performance. They have an accomplished ska-punk sound, with some nice catchy hooks and a flawless performance. The band has obviously been on the road a lot before, and has a good bit of crowd engagement between songs. The music is very easy to listen to, and I found myself irresistibly drawn into a bit of skanking without consciously realising it. Once again, they are a band I would highly recommend you have a listen to.
As the night draws on, we get to Keighley’s most famous export, RANDOM HAND. (I don’t know if they are really the most famous thing from Keighley, but as I’ve never heard of anything else from there I shall assume that they are.) Random Hand seem to be having a fantastic year so far – they’ve toured the country supporting the legendary Reel Big Fish, put out a brilliant new album ‘Inhale/Exhale’ on Rebel Alliance, played a blinding set at Slam Dunk festival in Leeds earlier this week, had a great tour with Sonic Boom 6 and are soon to release a single and video off the new album. Looking back at my notes for their set, my eyes are drawn mainly to two words written large and bold above everything else – “FUCKING GOOD!” The singer, Robin, gives some great credit to the bands on before, in particular saying of Dirty Revolutions “the bass line was so intense while I was having a shit upstairs it made everything come out a lot easier”. Thanks for that Robin. The set list had everything a Random Hand fan would want to hear on it, with the best tracks of their first and second albums all featuring, along with some great entertainment for the crowd too. If they carry on like this, 2009 is definitely going to be an awesome year for them.
Finally we come to the pinnacle of the night, SONIC BOOM 6. They took the brave decision for this tour to play out the whole of their new album, ‘City of Thieves’ – apparently this choice hasn’t worked brilliantly on every gig, but overall they’ve been happy with the response. I know from seeing their set at Slam Dunk festival that it has gone down fairly well in most places, but it builds up the crowd reaction even better for when they play out some of the older songs towards the end of the set. Tonight sees a packed crowd (not bad considering they don’t take to the stage till nearly 1am) treated to ‘City of Thieves’ right through from Track 1 almost all the way through the album. As it seems most of the crowd had heard that this was what the Boom would be treating us too, it was apparent that a large portion had done their research and so had an appreciation for the new songs already. Just like at Slam Dunk, probably the best reaction came for ‘Strange Transformations’, the tale we all recognise of chav culture turning to violence on nights out. When the new stuff was finished and they moved on to ‘People Ack Like They Don’t Know’, the already hectic crowd went into overdrive. The dance floor was a glorious heaving and sweaty mess. A few songs later, and the Boom finished their set to rapturous applause, and ended up returning to the stage for an encore performance of ‘All-In’. A fantastic end to an absolutely epic night.
