Adequate 7, Weightloss, CATCF, - 14th November 2003. Club 85. Hitchen, North Herts.

It's nice to see that Chico (CATCF) have made the transition from bouncy happy ska punk to 'metallic sounding dark punk with ska bits' and it suits them. It's a lot more original than their old sound and makes for a good mosh pit. A lot of bands get stuck with the rules they started with and it's good that Chico can pull out of this change.
A lot of people here tonight hadn't seen them in a while and remembered them to be singing the theme tune from 'Arthur' (and I say hey!) and although I miss that song it was great to see the shock on people's faces when Calvin started pulling out bastardised metallic punk riffs. Simon's bass work has got stronger and he has interjected his own style into the ska bass scales routine which does hold your attention.
One of the biggest changes is that they now seem to balance more with each other and at times the sound can be quite original. It had a good effect on the crowd and the humour was still in abundance. The metal breakdowns, bass solos and some good vocal rhythms kept this band interesting. Keep an eye on these guys to see how they grow.

Weightloss have gotten stronger too with the inclusion of a trumpet as well as the sax and the new singer things have tightened up a lot with regular practises.
Apart from a few technical problems with the guitar which were covered up nicely by the spontaneous drum solo and a few dead spots, weightloss did well tonight are on the up.
I would still say the new singer is finding his feet and is standing out a little from the rest of the band tonight but this is all to be expected. The inclusion of slap bass parts and jazz moments always made things interesting for me and I hope this trend continues it will be interesting to see what road these guys take as well.

Adequate 7 Put bluntly these guys were one of the best live bands I've ever seen and despite not hearing any of their music until a week before the gig I found I knew quite a few of the words to their easily recognisable and stupidly catchy songs.
The best thing about this band is that they are primarily a funk band with bits of punk and other stuff thrown in. The band pull of a mix very well between skanking, moshing waving hands in the air and rapping moments. The band have an awesome vibe and lots of thought has gone into giving the songs feelings and their own vibes. 90% of it was really accessible and that that wasn't was mixed up off kilter funk moments which although hard to dance to really stood out and showed this band as being talented. This band have everything that you need for a good time and even find time to add a message without preaching. The highlights of the set were 'Human Condition' and the funky grooves of 'Free the adequate seven.' It's nice to hear a band with so much stage presence and individuality that can just make a crowd bounce and it's not often I get to write that in a review. Some of the best moments were the inclusion of jazzy moments in the set (something shared with weightloss) that sounded like they weren't just being cheesy or there for show (something not shared with weightlosses set.) The band were well pleased with their performance and so they should be.
Go and see these guys at the underworld at he household name xmas bash on the 13th December.

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mat@livecircuit.net