Royston Jones, Jynxt, Firetype, A.R.T.

Lev 2 Esquires Bedford. 10th November 2007.

A crowd that grew steadily during the evening were rewarded with a hugely enjoyable show that saw a headline appearance by ROYSTON JONES. A band, no doubt helped by Myspace, who are maturing fast and also developing quite a sizeable fan base. It's not surprising, as they produce intelligent lyrics with lush tunes, all wrapped up with a friendly demeanour. The consumate ease with which they perform "Look Around You" is a perfect case in point. The rapturous ovation afforded to them at its end is richly deserved.
The mosh pit is packed full of people who create a controlled frenzy of excitement as "Good Days" is played out to a room of contented swaying bodies. The tempo alters a touch as we then 'Rock out with Royston!' who deliver "Saturday Nights". My it's nice to change the mood a little, while "Stars" is once again tenderly performed. Tonight Royston Jones can do no wrong, and even a cheesy throwaway comment from vocalist Josh such as "We will do the last song last!" brings some rippled laughter. An audience that clearly won't leave until they receive an encore are rewarded with "Waste of Time". It has been a pleasure to have spent the last thirty minutes in this room's company.

Tonights other bands are all new to level 2 and display varying levels of achievement. Testing my patience and tolerance to the limit are youngsters A.R.T. A four piece indie-punk band who mixed a few covers with a lot of mindless inane chat with their mates in the crowd. Boys, this is Esquires, not your local village hall! Hopefully it will be phased out in due course because I quite liked their final song "This Sunset is not in a Painting".

An old familiar face once again trod the Esquires 'boards' this evening when Blaine, ex of Portion fame, returned with his new band JYNXT. A five piece that sees him joined on vocals by the lovely Tally, who radiates a cool glamour and whose clothing (or rather lack of it) transfixed the young lads at the front as she rhythmically gyrated about the stage! The combination certainly has the right chemistry and complete with drums, guitar and especially synths, it's quite a slick and pacy debut. The funky vibes on "Winston" sees a spell of MC Blaine as he kicks into a spot of rappin' while "Imagination" kisses our ears. "Quantum Jump" keeps up the steady momentum that is only broken by a rather abrupt end to an ill-advised skankin' cover of "Hotel California"!

FIRETYPE also make a promising debut. A young local four piece, who despite having a few clothing problems(?!), kept their cool and produced a finely assured performance with some excellently written songs. It's varied indie-rock that shows potential both in their stage presence and technical ability. "Shadow of a Doubt" stood out for me.