Rate of the Day, Dash-Delete, The Sticks, Shapes.

Lev 2 Esquires Bedford. 26th October 2007.

It has to be the long-term aim for all our young local bands to eventually gig in some far flung corners of the country, be it London, Cornwall, or even Glasgow. However, for tonights headliners RATE OF THE DAY, last month saw them travelling to Rovigo in Italy and playing in front of 500 Italian music fans at a local music festival. A truly marvellous experience for Simon, Luke, Chris and Dan who make up this impressively maturing indie band. After Italy, what of their showing tonight? Well, from the haunting intro of 'Through Closed Doors' to the final strains of Millsy's mum's favourite 'Bomber Brown' (!) the set was confident and polished, and for a refreshingly level headed bunch of lads, the lyrical substance matched the ease control of playing.
ROTD showcased a few new songs, of which 'Break It Up' has recently received an airing on local radio. While the awesome vocal resources hit a peak on 'Sellin' This'. The funky blues of 'Taking Part' is a perfect demonstration of their contrasting potential, and the pleasing momentum built up in the set culminates with 'Things To Come'. Sometimes in the past Rate Of the Day's live performance has been a little patchy, but the high expectations they have at times shown were totally fulfilled tonight.

Supporting our musical ambassadors were firstly DASH-DELETE, an indie outfit from Aylesbury, Bucks who consist of Ashley Cawell (lead vocals, guitar), Richard Swift (backing vocals, guitar), Jack Brackley (drums) and George Shepherd (bass). It's clearly evident from their Esquires debut that they are a confident bunch, especially on this occasion as they have very little travelling support. The craftily titled 'Mary Le Bone' and the impressively performed 'Benny Boy' are the highspots from a band who, judging from the discussion I had with them post-gig, are aiming very high in their musical direction.

As the evening starts so well, surprisingly it hits the buffers with the appearance of acoustic duo THE STICKS who endure a disappointing time. After arriving late they missed out on a soundcheck which seemed to induce a nervous start from which they never really recovered. When midway through they await a stage monitor to be difused, it's highly ironic that their following song is about patience! Perhaps for these Sandy boys its "It feels like we are going nowhere fast" that sums up their overall performance.

Back to indie, and with a sharper name now Luton's SHAPES breezed back into Bedford. There's an urgency as they tear through their set with a swift efficiency that begs the question: are these boys in for last orders at The Duke of Clarence (Luton pub)? Especially when the shout of "1-2-3-4" strikes up for 'Fistfights at Midnight'. Their stage persona always scores top marks, and with some mates travelling to it adds to a good atmosphere.