Saturday 04.January 2003, Bedford Esquires.
The first heat of the 2003 Battle of the bands was the
Ska/Punk heat, despite none of the bands actually being ska. The line up origionally included
an all girl Ska band called Krum who unfortunately pulled out much to the dissapointment of the
inquisitive Esquires crowd. Never the less the line up was still not completely devoid of new bands.
New kids on the block 'PINK GRASS' hit the stage without much support or interest from the crowd.
They played a breed of punk that has become much more common on the Bedford scene since the success of
bands like Blink 182 in the mainstream. They had some quite good tunes that were marred by the guitarists
frankly awful sound. His playing was good, almost abouve average, but the sound coming out of his amp was
not recognisable as a guitar. The drummer was quite good, although he seemed to be playing slightly off
beat most of the time. (probably due to not being able to hear the guitar) and the bassist was o.k. I
did'nt have a problem with his vocals which were suprisingly good. With a bit more practice and some amp
tweaking, I imagine they could be a fairly good band in the future.
Next on the bill were Esquires regulars 'SPROKIT'. Despite essentially being a pop punk band they have
a certain something that sets that apart from the rest. There influences lie in bands like NOFX and their
more old school style of punk is a refreshing change to the usual pop ska churned out. They played mostly
their own songs with covers including the NOFX classic 'Sticking In My Eye' which sounded great along
with a cheekily done version of the Borderline song 'A Minus' which they played quite well. The audience
interaction as usual with Sprokit was a disaster, attempting to do shout outs and dedications before songs,
they were heckled by the 'helpful' Esquires crowd (Hee hee).
Despite putting on a good performance there seem'd to be something lacking, usual set highlight 'Organised
Religion Can Suck My Balls', didn't sound as good as it usually does. This was probably owing to the fact that
the guitarist broke his finger in a drunken skateboarding accident the week previous. Their set was also
cut short by Dot, so they didn't get to play their best couple of songs. Otherwise a good energetic
performance from the guys.
I had never seen 'BORDERLINE' before this show and I was unsure what to expect from the band.
I was pretty much blown away by the guys who sounded great and played
great songs. Their first song was really the highlight for me. It was a rocking bit of emo with a sexy metal
break. Nearly all the songs are emotional punk rock anthems with melodic guitars and heavy drums that sounded
brilliant live. Joe was on top form and sang well and in tune through out the night, the only dampener on the
proceedings was the news of Peanukles untimely parting of the ways, not that it seemed to effect their
performance in any way. They played their songs with style, accuracy and even threw a 'Jimmy Eat World' cover
in to the set for some variety which sounded great, despite a couple of problems with Joe's guitar. They finished
with a song off their e.p. 'The Second Best e.p. Ever' (see the review section for a comprehensive evaluation)
which they gave out during the night and a lucky few, went home with one clutched in their eager hands.
After a good show with a couple of great performances, Borderline and Sprokit both went through to the final
later this year. Hope to see you all there!!
Review by Dominic Critchley - www.bedfordmetal.co.uk