BoyKillBoy, Lights Action!.

Lev 2 Esquires Bedford. 11th March 2008.

Sometimes it is exasperating to witness the arrogance of touring bands and their various road crew. Take tonight for example. At Esquires, Tuesday is not a regular gig evening and as it's part of the normal working or college week, the bill is conservatively curfewed at 11-11.15pm. Well headliners BOYKILLBOY left the stage at a quarter to midnight and unfortunately a large proportion of people had already left, obviously due to transport and other commitments. At its peak the turnout was quite good for a 'Bluesday Tuesday', but the signs were not promising when we had to wait some forty minutes between the end of the excellent Lights Action! set and the first sighting of Chris Peck and the lads.

As if the wait wasn't bad enough, the sound, courtesy of BoyKillBoy's own sound engineer, was for the first third of the set, quite poor. Eventually that did get sorted out, but the time schedule didn't! This was BoyKillBoy's third appearance here, and which forms part of their current extensive tour which culminates with a support slot with The Enemy later in the month.

After a lengthy spell out of the spotlight BoyKillBoy's stock is rising again, primarily because of the current surge of interest in current single "Promises", which of the seventy minute set is the pick of the new material showcased. This is from their forthcoming new album "Stars and the Sea" which is released at the end of March. To gauge the audiences reaction, it does however seem to be the older, more familiar songs that generate the most interest, such as "Civil Sin" and especially "Suzie". They both get the crowd clapping and dancing. These rough hewn guitar anthems with their shoutalong lyrics pull BoyKillBoy out of, at times, a rather ponderous mire, although vocalist Chris does speak affectionately about Esquires and what the venue means to them in their three year band career. Overall, the set lacks a certain ingredient. It's at times rather forced and has no cohesion. Continuity stutters and as a result it's not a gig to remember with any real fondness.