The Bedford Athletic Rugby Club Wentworth drive, Putnoe Bedford. Friday 23rd September 2005.
Space Monki Mafia, Nick Theodore, Heartbeat Assassins, Havoka. (Special guests - Blackout).
Heat 4
With bands coming from out of Bedford I really didn't know what to expect for the audience size tonight. I was gratefully surprised therefore that there was a really good turn out with the bands bringing along their party loving friends with them. It was also good to see members of last weeks 'Drawing Of The Four' come down as well. I even met some people that had come down to see their favourite band last week and enjoyed themselves so much that they had come back just for a good time and to see who ever was on. So a big thank you to all who came and all in the team who helped out with putting the show together.
SPACE MONKI MAFIA are a band that have only been together for a few months, they are from the St. Neots area and have (for the first time in the comp.) some girls in the band, one on drums and another on guitar with a trade mark monkey hat on. They seemed a reliably proffesional band, all looking the part and with their own backdrop as well. Their guitarist came off the stage to play in with the crowd at one point but nothing could top the party atmosphere better than the totally up for it fans, who at the beginning of their set did the conga all the way round the stage and added greatly to the Bedford Metal atmosphere of the evening. The band announced they were going to cover 'House Of The Rising Sun' which I thought would clash with their sound, what with it being quite a sombre song. - I needn't have worried though, they done it in their own style and gave us a funky party version, which went down extremely well. A 'Green day' cover was added towards the end of a hugely enjoyable set.
It must be quite a daunting task of performing solo and to a larger than normal crowd, but local musician and solo artist NICK THEODORE took to the now freshly carpeted stage (which has got bigger throughout the nights we put on) with a bit of banter and jokes in between his self-written songs leaving you guaranteed to get some entertainment value out of the act, while at the same time demonstrating his obvious talent. I think perhaps it may have been better to have started with a shorter song to begin with, but he gave us a good combination of his material, some of which was available on his professionally made C.D. (see C.D. Review page) which it was good to see some people buying. During a bit of feed back sound problems Nick made the crowd laugh by stating that the feedback doesn't appear on the C.D. It was quite a relaxing part of the night, with the audience able to chat and listen to the performance as well, which shows his versility and kind of bought his usual pub gigs to a main stage quite well. Don't forget to buy his C.D. when you catch him next - Or buy him a pint!
With their emo punk sound the HEARTBEAT ASSSASSINS took me a while to get in to, sounding a bit generic at first, with their Alkaline Trio, Taking Back Sunday influenced sound, they added their commitment and took to the stage well and I gradually warmed to them Their lead singer worked the crowd well and the drumming stood out as being particularly well played. The lead guitarist dressed entirely in black and white from boots to cap belied his monochrome appearance by putting in a colourful performance, reminding me of Angus Young from AC/DC with front man potential that got the crowd cheering.
More metal than the Eiffel Tower HAVOKA from the Luton Dunstable are a fresh band starting in the ways of the early Blackout days in putting out Metallica and System Of A Down covers infused with the intensity of their heavy edge with an incendiary of drums and well belted out harsh great vocals from their front man, reminding me of the lead singer of Blackout - but with a hair cut! They started with loads of Metallica covers and can obviously play their instruments to be able to do this so well. I have to say though, that when they announced one of their own songs, the crowd response never dissipated, I enjoyed their own material as it still kept the momentum of their sound, in with the more well known anthems; so more of their own material would help get the band to the next level, which I would encourage Havoka, as their own material was really good.
I noticed some good shared guitar work going on here, along with some good shapes to the instruments themselves. The blue guitar holder it was good to see having fun while playing, seeming to enjoy what he was doing. They ended on one of their own songs before giving us 'Chop Suey' and the fast and well-sung 'Toxicity' - one of my fave System covers.
In order to give the audience something to see while the judges totted up their scores we had popular Bedford crowd pleasers BLACKOUT, whose excellent guitar work during the sound check scared some of the contestants at first and were relieved to hear were not an actual part of the BOTB competition, but were there as an added bonus to the proceedings in addition to their excellent work they do in helping to set up the sound and technical aspects of these events. After the anthem like tunes of their own great material it was time to announce the winners.
The Heartbeat Assassins won the 'Best New Band' and will be on an up coming gig after the competition, but the winners of this heat with a 50. voucher and go through the next round were - Space Monki Mafia. When the winners were announced there was a deafening roar and we all knew it was the right decision.
Keith www.bedfordmetal.co.uk