Six Point Five, Hudson, Subversion, A Boy Called Hero.

Lev 2 Esquires Bedford. 8th July 2005.

A BOY CALLED HERO How thought-provoking – five apparently angst-ridden sixteen year olds playing emotionally charged rock. Nearly brought tears to my eyes; actually, the occasional bout of screaming from A Boy Called Hero almost did! Some advice from an old pro – if you’re going to scream your vocals do it from the stomach and not the throat otherwise it sounds rubbish. (Alternatively, start an 80’s thrash band). Sorry, I’m feeling extremely cynical; perhaps it’s the abysmal turn out. They were actually pretty good at what they do – tight, inoffensive melodic nu-punky stuff; and at the very least they doubled the crowd for the other bands!

SUBVERSION Spot the difference between Subversion and the last band – another bunch of teenagers playing EMO, but… these guys are out to have a great time (and they scream from the stomach)! Sure, build a wall of pain to write your lyrics behind if that’s your thing, but no one ever filled a stadium by moping about the place. Melodic punk, yes; angst-fuelled, perhaps; great to watch – bloody right! Some advice from an old pro though – if you’re going to have a drink on stage make it vodka and not water otherwise it looks rubbish! Otherwise, I really enjoyed this lot, and mainly because they obviously did too.

HUDSON was once cursed by a wizened old pikey, resulting in no one ever turning up whenever they play Esquires. That’s what I reckon. Maybe I should take a piss in the DJ booth downstairs to try and lift the crone’s spell, a bit like Barry Fry once did at Northampton Town Football Club. Hang on a minute… no, I’d better keep that particular story to myself for as long as Bedford wants to keep hearing my awesome DJ sets down there!
Anyway, Hudson, as always, are fantastic. Like Bad Religion crossed with Rancid and some old Damned. No pretensions, just a band with some very well penned, intricate songs, great presence and clever use of their instruments that obviously love doing their stuff. And they deserve better than this, so go out and buy their album to make up for not turning up, you ignorant fuckers that call yourselves “the Bedford alternative music scene” and don’t know a good thing when it’s shoved up your arses!

A long time ago a band called Minty played in Esquires; incidentally, one (female) member of the band just stood there naked (and shaved) under a plastic umbrella for the whole set – that was her job! Fucking art! Anyway, there were loads of them. There were loads of SIX POINT FIVE TOO. No nudists, but a lot of brass. Musically, it’s Two-Tone dragged into 2005 by some very tight, enthusiastic pop-punk. Great stuff! And Bedford, like the time Oasis played here to about twelve people, you missed out on another treat! (Oasis actually played at The Angel – Pedantic Ed.)
Oasis were shit that night, by the way, but what matters today is that I saw them and you probably didn’t. Think about it, then stop making that mistake and check out the great stuff that Esquires has got lined up for you!