The Switches, White Light Parade, The Beaslie Gang.
Bedford Esquires Lev 2. 28th April 2007.
Visiting Esquires tonight are current NME faves Switches, the new bright young things who hail from the musical capital of the UK! Erm, that'll be Southend then! With credible supports slots to Graham Coxon, Fratellis and The Automatic in the past and now embarking on a major tour, anticipation in Bedford is high and tickets have been selling well.
As the crowd make their way into level 2, it is immediately noticeable that THE SWITCHES are a band that appeal to the girls! They swarm in, buy a drink and then head to the front by the stage ready to get a closer view and a few pictures of the band. After a couple of support bands the quartet step up on to the stage. With their debut album 'Heart tuned to D.E.A.D.' released just a few days ago and enjoying airplay a plenty, Switches appear to be creating major interest at present. Justified or hype? Well I admit, on this performance their presentation and overall style is commendable. They soon get everyone on their side. However, I found their songs very boring. Once the first couple had been played it all became very monotonous. To my ears it crossed early Blur with a touch of Bowie and a whole lot of Mika!! However the girls at the front are, to quote a Switches song, 'Lovin' it'!
In the world of pop music, from its early origins, cheekbone geometry has always counted for a lot and Matt (vocals), Max (bass), Ollie (guitar) and Jimmy (drums) have it in abundance! Each and every song - 'Snakes and ladders', 'Coming down', 'Message From Yuz' are greeted with hysterical cries, especially when Matt coos coyly "This is called ...oh lets just play it!" What follows is the ultra annoying repetitive single 'Lay Down the Law', cue more shrills at it's conclusion. As Switches enter the final throes of their set, Matt lifts his guitar above his head, conveniently thrusting his lower body in the direction of his female fans, while Jimmy throws his drumsticks into a happy crowd. Thankfully for me they then all switched off!
Much more to my liking was Bradford's WHITE LIGHT PARADE (their name an ironic coincidence given that they were supporting Switches!) a four piece including a female drummer. A motley collection of tunes are delivered with a sharp patter. The vocalist informs us that they had met Bonehead last night (thankfully thay didn't ask him to play with them tonight). 'Riot in the city' follows to polite applause. WLP play simple rock'n'roll songs all delivered with attitude. However I was very nervous when they sang 'When the light go out'(thankfully they didn't!) and With a quick chat about Luton's struggling football team, White Light Parade finished off with 'Tell it like it is' (they did).
Also on the support cast was Flitwick's THE BEASLIE GANG whose song 'Spanish' was played beautifully.
Review by Martin Stapleton. www.bedfordesquires.co.uk