Ioneyes, Latitudes, Josh Kershaw.

25th January 2007.

Walking into Danny’s Bar tonight I was unaware of the barrage of talent that would face me over the next couple of hours.

As JOSH KERSHAW stepped up to the mic in his ripped jeans and hoody, battered guitar in hand, he started to play music that was as down to earth as his image suggested. With a set including songs about society, love lost, and his Dad, I can imagine that this Buckinghamshire poet experiences life in the city then retreats to a country field to write about it. And that’s exactly where Josh’s songs belong, sat on the bonnet of a car in an open field on a summer’s evening. Opening tune ‘Saturday Nights’ (which would sound great with a band behind him) lashes out against the booze-and-cocaine culture that so many live in, and from then on in Josh’s radio-friendly voice purrs through Level 1’s new PA system. His vocal prowess is displayed particularly on ‘Nothing Left To Lose’ and ‘One Step’, which is one of those songs that commands you to sit and reflect on your past. Finally, a male singer/ songwriter who doesn’t sound like Damien Rice, Josh Kershaw deserves to be on your mix tapes for the autumn. Download his tunes at www.myspace.com/joshkershawmusic

Next up were a band I’d not come across before, but will be checking out again and again! LATITUDES came up from St Albans for tonight’s show and I am so glad they did. They served up an absolutely incredible chuck of epic, instrumental metal/ hardcore which had everyone’s heads (and I’m sure the foundations of Esquires) rocking. Latitudes are four very talented musicians who have clearly thought about their tunes and what they want to achieve musically, which unfortunately is rare these days. The drumming of Mike Davies echoes that of Tony Hajjar from At The Drive In, and his intelligent, powerful playing sums up the rest of the band, who tonight are creating a sound so huge and tight (again a rariety in ‘local’ bands) that I am eagerly awaiting the next killer riff. And when it comes it absolutely soars thanks to the guitar genius of Tim Blyth (who I saw tilt his guitar for a split second to create feedback as part of one riff!) As the tunes developed, so did the grin on my face, and the smiles of those in the room who knew they were witnessing something incredible.
For a sample of their monsterous sound turn up your speakers and check out ‘Demo2’ on their myspace page, before they upload their new recordings done with Mark Williams (who apparently has something to do with Fightstar, but we’ll forgive him for that).

A tough act to follow, but Hertfordshire five piece IONEYES have an explosive start to their set which is a hit with those gathered here tonight. They play the ‘chugga chugga dischord’ metal/ screamo we have heard before, but the songs had interesting and varied sections, whilst their performance showed us how passionate they were about shaking our jeans with their seven string guitars! The talents of the individual members was on show here tonight as they crafted a sound bigger than the room they were placed in. This is probably good reason to check them out in Level 2 on March 16th! Highlight for me was Ollie on guitar, who, incidentally was the only one who didn’t look like he had to be an accountant the next morning! Stand-out song was definitely My Love Evermore which can be downloaded from www.myspace.com/ioneyes

The best thing about local music is when the bands create a community atmosphere and tonight there was much mutual appreciation flying around, which made the night such a success.