The Automatic, The Marshals, Valentine Stitch.

Esquires Bedford Lev 2. Saturday 4th March 2006.

Spring is on it’s way and all those people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) are beginning to feel that the worse is behind them. St David’s Day is in some quarters regarded as the end of Winter and tonight Esquires celebrated that special Welsh day (albeit three days late) with the appearance from Wales of self-proclaimed Disco-Gonzo Punk Band THE AUTOMATIC.
Rob Hawkins (bass / vocals), Alex Pennie (keyboards), Iwan Griffiths (drums) and James Frost (guitar) are from a Cowbridge, a little town with a population of 6,000 some 12 miles outside Cardiff. These lifelong friends with an average age of just 19 were the sensations of last years ‘In the City’, the annual showcase event for all the hot new unsigned bands in the country. Tonight we were privileged to see what all the fuss was about as The Automatic dropped in to Bedford as part of the first major UK tour. After support slots with The Ordinary Boys, Hard-Fi and The Kooks they were rewarded with a record deal with esteemed label ‘B-Unique’.
Although the venue is surprisingly not packed to capacity, there is a sense of anticipation before the boys come on stage to a rousing reception. Opening their set with ‘Keep Your Eyes Peeled’, they suffered a slight technical hitch with a microphone lead before launching into the soon to be released single ‘Raoul’. The song is a tribute to the owner of a café in the boys hometown (apparently his spicy chicken baguettes are favourites of the The Automatic!) and the reception it receives suggests it is going to be a big hit. The creepy sounding ‘Rats’ is a track from the debut album The Automatic has just finished recording. Rob dedicated the next song ‘On the Campaign Trail’ to their tour mates The Marshals and this was just about when Alex, the spectacular and extremely manic keyboard player made himself the star of tonights show. The hyperactive antics of this man were a sight to behold as he contorted, ran and jumped around the stage.

Previous single ‘Recover’ appeared to be a favourite of the moshers as they bounce off each other but when the aforementioned Mr Pennie joins them in the thick of the action it really hits overdrive in a suitably deranged end to their set. Unfortunately requests for an encore fall on deaf ears but their set certainly made me look forward to their album.
Their set list was as follows:
• Keep Your Eyes Peeled, • Raoul , • Rats, • On the Campaign Trail, • Lost At Home, • That’s What She Said, • By My Side, • Recover, • Monster.

Support tonight came from Irish 3 piece Indie Rockers THE MARSHALS, and the highlight of their competent and extremely professional set was new single ‘Make Her Cry’. With an elegantly dressed frontman resplendent in a waistcoat and tie, the were previously unknown to me but with songs like ‘Sofia’ and ‘Frank Miller’ (which tells the tale of a black and white movie star ) they are highly entertaining!





VALENTINE STITCH opened this ‘Hairgel’ evening and their female vocalist had the most incredible soulful and bluesy voice, which was a real throwback to the sound of Janis Joplin. Backed by a hard rocking sound they got the evening off to a great start.