Unclassified, Loose Baby Charlotte, The Newtones.

Esquires Bedford Lev 1 Thursday 6th April 2006.

After the superb gig last Thursday featuring Bullets TO Broadway, showcase Thursday returned to it's roots back in Danny's Bar. Tonight it is held in association with 'Bedford Metal' with their very own Nigel and Keith overseeing the evenings events.

Undoubted stars of the show are Hitchin's THE NEWTONES, who bring along a whole army of their followers as well as converting us Newtone virgins to their sound.
Comprising David Sells (bass / vocals), Jase Slender (guitar), Lee Sells (guitar / vocals) and Jonny Harry (drums), they were formed a mere three months ago, united by a spiritual love of indie rock! The Newtones have made great strides in just a very short time and with influences ranging from Gang of Four to the Kooks. However, it was clear from tonight's performance that the main source of their inspiration comes from their love of Bloc Party.
At the beginning of opening song 'Discussions', Lee climbs onto the drum kit, balances with the deft skill of an acrobat before jumping off and launching into a storming intro. It is a trick he repeats at various times of the set.
The Newtones display a terrific workrate and ooze confidence during impressive tracks 'Escape' and 'Don't Waste Your Time'. The song 'Keeping Mistakes' is pure Bloc Party before they sign off with 'Tell Me, Tell Me, Tell Me'. I will boys, it was terrific and roundly applauded by every single person here tonight. It was as vibrant an indie rock performance as we have seen on a showcase evening this year.

The first band of the evening was LOOSE BABY CHARLOTTE, a very intelligent and thought provoking group but, please guys, do everyone a favour and ditch that awful name! They are given a massive build up by M.C. Keith who introduces them in his own 'unique' way!
Loose Baby Charlotte are a Peterborough / Bedford based band featuring Darren Hine (vocals), Ben Thorrington (guitar), Andy Elderskin (bass) and Nick White (drums). 'Why Should I Try' kickstarts their set which, after some berating from Darren, everyone roundly applauds. The imaginatively titled 'Frolicking in the Shrubbery' is a much slower effort which contrasts nicely with the track that follows it, 'All I Need'. This powers along nicely courtesy of Nick's drumming and it was my pick of their set. 'Cynical' is overlayered with some dreamy guitar work while 'Giving Up' offers a more sleepy Belle and Sebastian take on events. The whole set was hugely enjoyed by all, however I felt at times Darren's rather soft vocals were overpowered by the rest of the band.

Providing the metal meat in this indie sandwich were the South-East Bedfordshire band UNCLASSIFIED. The instrumental 'Paramedic's Side' opened a rather dull and muted first half of their set before 'Death from Above' completely transformed both their set and my interest. Everything is cranked up as they push up the power and volume to a higher level. In fact, the last four tracks of their set (including new song 'Hide and Seek') saw Vocalist George Bellamy expel every last drop of air from his lungs whilst the band created an intense and bludgeoning sound. All credit to Unclassified especially, and perhaps ironically considering their name, as they were they odd-ones out tonight.