Fusion -MySpace

Shoegaze, psychedelia and modern rock and post-rock: perhaps not the most immediately combinable elements, but Fusion really pulled it off with casual aplomb and a good sense of humour. Members of the band were holding small conversations with people at the front and consistently making jokes between the songs: audience participation perhaps at its finest. Energetic and enthusiastic instrumentalism perfused their performance, with guitar and drum solos of a great technicality being used to great effect. However, the vocal performance of Freddie Odong left a little to be desired: it was all around quite flat and without any real character.

Sam Bentley – MySpace

Following Fusion, it would be a reasonable assumption to make that the next act would not be an acoustic set with the instrumentation of two acoustic guitars, a keyboard and a violin. I guess that consistency wasn’t really a criterion of the selection of the bands for this event, but none of that matters. I’d been talking to Sam himself prior to his ascension to the stage, and (as well as selling me a copy of his EP for £1.74 instead of £2.50: doing this does have its perks – also: he’s a nice guy, obviously. Always good) he stated his worries of playing acoustically in a room such as the one he was in: small, and full of talking friends. Unfortunately, his fears were to be confirmed and further accentuated by issues with feedback and other sound malfunctions (not to mention a sore throat). However, he managed to play convincingly and fluently in spite of these disadvantages. Starting with Outside, from his Starve in Heaven-loved Colours EP, the Elliott Smith-esque nature of his vocal delivery become almost immediately apparent: the paradoxical strength yet exterior fragility of a whippet would be a good comparison to make. The slow vibrato of the violin came to accentuate this. Covers of Outkast’s Hey Ya! and Justin Timberlake’s LoveStoned brought his crowd (which, admittedly I was envious of) of mostly attractive girls to attention, and served as a testament to his vocal ability. His lovely set was about as close as we got to singing around the campfire.

Cyanide Eyes – MySpace

From the first chord played, I was expecting yet another oh-we’re-so-hardcore metal-esque band with no redeeming qualities. I am beyond proud to say that that is not what we got: we saw a band, whilst clearly showing influences such as Machine Head, Deftones and Alexisonfire’s earlier work, with several original bones in the collective corpus. They effused such a raw energy that even the likes of Neil Perry and Pg. 99 would have been in awe of their performance. The vocal delivery was teeming with emotion and ranged from a whisper to a yell to a guttural scream: and by god, were all three of these beautiful. Coupled with his movement, this was performance art: music beyond music, it told a tale. Riffs, fills and solos were played with an air of an almost throwaway attitude: it was as if this came oh-so easily to them. Also rare for a band of their age, the bassline actually played a role in their songs: it was audible and drove the rest of the song along, something which I found to be genuinely refreshing.

Dirty Mindz – MySpace

I suppose it could be said that I have a little history with Dirty Mindz, haha. I’m more than willing to admit that I was wrong, however, given the events of the evening: it started with me having a conversation of sorts with Izaak, Stuart, Jake/Skidz and their homosexual roadie/groupie whose name I never picked up. It was about the prior article and certain misinformation included therein. From there, however, it got more sociable: we discussed punk, politics, religion and certain other Birmingham-based bands. It went well, I’d say: certainly could have gone a lot worse. As far as their performance goes: it really was excellent. Izaak, as I remarked at the time, was ‘fucking insane’ on stage, using every punk performance pastiche yet adding his own little mannerisms to make it that bit more unique. Ostentatious though it was, Luke epitomised the band’s musical prowess by making a point to play his guitar behind his head. Again, the ‘wanker’ reflex was only held short by my realisation of jealousy of his ability. The drumming was more than just the usually expression of I’m-just-trying-to-keep-time, it had a soul to it: the drummer really got into what he was doing, and the music benefited immeasurably for it. They were really getting off on performing, and that is what performing should be about: hedonism.

The night would start with a performance from Shoot, Panda!?, a fledgling Birmingham band close to my heart due to my personal knowledge of its members. In spite of this inherent bias, I can honestly say that their performance was indeed one of magnificence: stage presence of vivaciousness and instrumental ability far beyond that of their years and classical training. Whilst the classic indie traits of pretence and self-indulgence are present in their songs, the sheer interest that their songs can attract, as well as the feelings of euphoria that their songs can bring on in anyone with a soul, means that this doesn’t matter: you will dance, no matter how much you fight the urge. Their blend of dance and indie is really that infectious, and is only bolstered by their youth. The only negative comment that can be made about this performance is the slight tendency of the one guitarist to dance in an Ian Curtis-esque manner; and he’s not even epileptic.
With a slight delay for the removal/addition of equipment from/to the stage, The Likely Lads were the next band to play. Sounding like a mixture of Oasis and Arctic Monkeys with a hint of The Clash and similar punk-era bands, an air of security in what their next song is going to sound like is never really available; not to say that their set was not consistent. It was: it really was. They mix the tried-and-tested elements of all of their influences, but add little flairs of their own to make their sound unquestionably their own. A mix of grit and brighter themes in their music also keeps you on edge throughout their set; these lads are definitely not ones for predictability. The relatively static performance of their vocalist with no attempt to hide his accent was a breath of fresh air: it was an earnest, honest and ‘real’ performance; and drew attention towards him amidst the rhythmical gesturings of his bandmates. This contrast enriched their act most wonderfully.

When MAYDAY! came to play, I could not get the image of The Mars Volta out of my mind. This may well have been partly to do with the fact that their guitarist did indeed look like Cedric Bixler of the aforementioned band, but their opening song Gorpse hinted towards a playful experimentation and vocal eccentricity which I would expect from such a band. The introduction of a keyboard also made an interesting diversion from the guitar-guitar-bass-drum dynamic that had been so solidly set up by the previous bands: variety is indeed the spice of life. There was such an electricity between the band members on stage it was almost frightening: they were by far the tightest band of the night, with not a single note or beat out of place to my ears at least. Musical nods towards the likes of We Are Scientists, whilst apparent, were not detrimental: it was clear that they had made a concerted effort to sound like themselves, but just taking advice from those which could be considered peers in their field: what they do is not emulation, but rather creation.

In a departure from the other musical styles of the night, RiotNight’s influences seemed to stem from more classic rock bands, such as Status Quo, The Beatles and Guns ‘n’ Roses (as strange as that combination may sound) as well as the likes of more modern bands such as Oasis and even Travis. A dirty, overdriven guitar tone on the likes of Alive points to this classic rock influence, but songs like Roll On point to this Oasis-era influence. It really is an interesting combination to see, but it is far from alien and does indeed work quite well. By far, RiotNight had the best stage show of the night; with their guitarists, vocalist and bassist moving in an almost choreographed manner, all in beautiful synchronicity with the music. It’s just a shame that the venue had almost emptied following the MAYDAY! set; some people missed some great music from an interesting live band.
In all honesty, dripping and freezing would have been payment I would have more than willingly handed over for this night: talent is usually such an abstract and rare quality; this night was luckily enough to have four bands reeking of mainstream promise and critical praise. I await the day that I read the names of these bands in the music press; that day will most definitely come.

How did this discovery come about? My first visit to the Kamikaze Promotions 444club at the Rainbow in Digbeth: the name being a result of the cost of entry being £4, there being 4 bands playing, and final end time being 4AM. Despite being a weekly event, this first visit was on the 7th December 2007, where The Dogfight Revolution, This Machine is Off, Grandscope and Destroy Cowboy were set to play. Unfortunately, it would transpire that, due to slight traffic problems on their journey from Stoke, This Machine is Off wouldn’t play their set; no matter though: the night still delivered on its promise of up-and-coming, promising local talent.

The night opened spectacularly with the wall of noise which preceded and served as an intro to The Dogfight Revolution’s first song and demonstrated very well their blend of ’60’s psychedelic and modern electronic influences. Throughout the set, their instrumental variation shone through and made sure that no two songs sounded the same: the combination of sharp Telecaster treble from the one guitarist and the warm mids and treble of the Jaguar (and the change to acoustic guitar in one of the songs) was always a winner, and perfectly demonstrative of their ’60’s influence was the (very apt) use of Theremin. Their charisma also shone through in the emotive voice of their lead singer and their dynamic stage presence.

After around 15 minutes of setting up, the stage of the Rainbow was packed with keyboards and other music-oriented electronic gadgetry: this could only mean that Grandscope were about to play. They were again about to impress me with their introduction; upon walking onto the stage, no pleasantries were to be exchanged: they got straight into business with a song called Uno Juno, an instrumental track reminiscent of a cross between Red Sparowes and Explosions in the Sky. I was frankly wowed by this, and my attention was kept all of the way though the performance by their mixture of atmospherics and outright aggression; great variances in dynamics and enchanting vocals. In a couple of the songs, a certain post-hardcore prog-esque influence was evidenced, á la At the Drive-In; especially with the amazing esoteric drumming.

Once again, in an almost planned consistency, 15 minutes passed between Grandscope leaving the stage and the headliners Destroy Cowboy taking to it. The Rainbow’s stage was once again awash with synthesisers, keyboards and guitars, all with a sole unifying purpose: packing out the Courtyard area of the Rainbow. Hand to god, it was like a microcosm of the population density of China in there once Destroy Cowboy had started playing, and with good reason. Like the bastard child of Bloc Party and Head Automatica, they mix what could be construed by snobs as ’stereotypical’ indie guitar riffs with a surprising blend of pop and electronic music. Their set started at 100MPH and never let down once. Songs such as 1000 Candles and Hey show just why they have been receiving such great press from smaller (local and national) music press – blending old and new to create something totally previously unheard of. As for stage presence; they made the stage of the Rainbow their own, with a performance from their keyboardist bordering on the possessed, and the performances from the other members of the band easily matched his enthusiasm for the music which they were making.

Before the bands started playing, and in the 15 minutes of setting up between the bands, boredom was alleviated by some very talented DJing. Beats were matched and tempos altered to perfection. One of the highlights of the nights must have been a most pleasant remix of Bloc Party’s Banquet; a song not kind to the untalented amongst DJs. All around, an amazing set from CrazyP ensued later in the night.

I am often one to moan about the prices of things in this day and age, but this night out was amazing: the weekly 444club night at the Rainbow offers 4 bands and offers 8 hours of entertainment for only £4: depending upon how you look at it, that’s either £1 per band or £0.50 per hour; either way, it’s cheaper than many nights out and probably a better quality. Combine that with food and drinks promotions (£1.50 for mixers and Grolsch), and you have a night out with amazing local talent and a low cost. If you need any proof that the West Midlands has a creative side, come to the 444club: the event oozes that which you seek. In addition to this, if you are worried about the availability of taxis after your evening at the Rainbow; from my experience Silver Line Cars are a reasonably safe bet for having cars pulling up by the Rainbow frequently: it’s just a shame that I was waiting for a Speedline.