Kicks, Firefly, Kissing Slinky, Johnny Goes West.

Lev 2 Esquires Bedford. 8th September 2007.

With the England football and rugby teams both playing just a few hours earlier today, it was with appropriate timing that headlining tonight were KICKS who proceeded to produce more shots than your average tequila bar! Vocalist Steve is the proverbial glory-seeking musical centre-forward as he craves the spotlight and takes attention prowling around the stage and being less than complimentary about his hometown of Camberley! After a muted reaction with opener 'Pounding Hard' Kicks finally score with 'Starting over'; Steve's impressed as he nasally announces "Saturday night in Bedford - rock on"!
Guitar mid-field dynamos, namely Mark Adrian and James ensure that the pace continues with 'Ringing Out'. Our gregarious frontman then informs us how the following song 'Waiting Games' was conceived. Apparently by a week spent in France drinking copious amounts of red wine! The result is uniformly strong as the solid defender that is afro-haired sticksman Gaz furiously pounds away. Currently on a British tour, Kicks end with "All You Ever Have", indeed as Motty would say "The boys done well"!

Strong varied support is provided, especially with East Beds five piece FYREFLY, whose 'curricula vitae' already includes an American number one courtesy of an independent internet radio chart. The song in question is 'Stain' which beautifully closes the set tonight with its fine guitar skills, but there are more goodies to be gleaned from this mature band. As the rockin' opener 'Me Oh My' gives vocalist Miche a chance to clear her lungs! Conversely the rippling, meaty jazz-funk of 'Prime Dream' showcases their prowess, while the slower 'I Don't Know' is reassuringly wrapped in a warm musical duvet of utter dreaminess! With a debut album due to be released stateside shortly, it's a shame there are not more here to witness our excellent local musical exports Fyrefly.

Also appearing tonight are the young KISSING SLINKY who seem to be progressing steadily. Despite their vocalist suffering a sore throat she was still an unstoppable force of nature throughout, especially on the punky 'S.O.S.'. The audience participation of clapping rather stalled on the preceding 'Fortune Cookie', but this recently completed song is played at full pelt.

Aylesbury quartet JOHNNY GOES WEST are an indie band who delight in bizzare song titles such as 'Precious Butter' and 'Bubble Coffee Plan' (!), but deliver 'happy-snappy' feelgood tunes. Vocalist Mike even dares to wear a very vivid red hoodie with the hood covering his head for the most part of the set! Despite this I enjoyed their Esquires debut performance.