Bedford Metal
present: Bedford Esquires/Civic/Danny's Bar. Friday 27th and Saturday 28th July
2007.
'Bed-Rock 2007.
Martin Stapleton. www.bedfordmetal.co.uk
Review by Martin Stapleton.
Esquires level 2. Bed-Rock day 1. Friday 27th July 2007
Phew! Bed-Rock, fifty plus acts, two venues, eighteen hours or so of live music,
spread over two days. A venture that has not been tried locally before. I have
to congratulate Bedford Metal's Nigel Evans, Keith Pickering and their committee
members for their bold attempt in giving the young people of Bedford the flavour
of a festival. Esquires was split between bands on Level 2, with acoustic bands
also appearing in Danny's Bar.
Friday's action started for me with SELF INFLICTED.
It's nice to be reacquainted with this Cambridge band as its been a while since
they last played on Level 2. They have a contrasting combination of beauty and
bludgeoning power. It's not hard to work out what part alluring vocalist Heidi
contributes as she seductively dances for the most part of the set, while the
hormonal young lads at the front are still recovering from the sight of Heidi's
bare midriff!!
Their testosterone levels go into orbit with the appearance of the feisty young
ladies of SIRENIDE. For the Leighton Buzzard band
it's a first, because their guitarist is stranded in an Italian airport. They
have to play as a quartet. No-one seems to mind as, once again, this popular
band combine a superb stage show with some sparkling pop-punk sounds. As well as
their performance, Llovonne Sirenide excitedly rushes back to Level 2 to tell me
that FIFTH QUARTER's set in the bar was
"Amazing! Wow those boys can rock!" she enthuses. They were headlining
downstairs and the general consensus was the same as Llovonne's. I feel a bit
disappointed to have missed them. Especially when I have to suffer thirty
minutes of a band called BELISHA.
To call them "slightly bonkers" would be a massive understatement.
They come on to the stage wearing headgear with lights and then proceed to give
us the surreal sight of a custard pie fight on stage! I just found them '
cringeworthy' but the party crowd surprisingly seemed to like them - bah humbug!
Final band DRIVE BY ARGUMENT. are much more to my
liking. Their cool indie-dance tunes certainly found favour with me.
Esquires level 2. Bed-Rock day 2. Saturday 28th July 2007
Day 2 at Bed-Rock sees me rather confused, as I turn up at Level 2 expecting to
see Necrosadistic Goat Torture, but instead it's the rather chirpy INSPIRATION
who once again thrive when they add a little light reggae to their set.
Art-rockers TEN YEAR PROSPECT put a few stoner
sounds into their excellent set. However, sadly, very few people are here to
watch it. This performance does put into context just how much this band have
been missed from this Esquires stage these past months.
From a personal point of view, I felt the festival really came alive with the
appearance of LITTLE THIEF. Cheered on by friends
and family who create such an electric atmosphere, this band have had such a
good 2007. It was, again, a fired up performance. The songs remain their
strength and thankfully they manage to restrain their fans from totally invading
the stage. Little Thief's set is all about controlled euphoria.
Two touring bands follow. First THE DISPLACEMENTS
who hail from Leicester. They have recently signed to Stiff Records and their
gigging schedule is quite hectic at the moment. In fact, the band tell us early
on that they arrived home very late after their show last night. Although tired
they seemed to enjoy their Bedford debut. It's difficult to categorise their
overall sound, but vocalist Andy does possess a distinctive adenoidal whine that
sometimes is out of kilter with the more softer sound of his three colleagues.
Their forthcoming debut single "Frontline hearts", due for release on
August 20th is performed with genuine feeling, while bassist Nev cheekily asks
if we have strobe lighting for dancey song "Long long night". Although
sadly we haven't, The Displacements still manage to make some new friends
tonight.
Following on were punk band LIGHTS ACTION! who
comprise of Patrick Currier (vocals), Pat Kay (guitar, backing vocals), Karl
Baneham (guitar, backing vocals), Alex Leeder (bass, backing vocals) and Steven
Durham (drums). Frontman Patrick is in fact an American born and bred who has
settled in England, hooked up with the other lads and together are making steady
progress. They certainly live up to their name as action is what they are all
about. The songs "Sweet little lies" and "Us against the
world" show an urgency and demonstrate a vitality that immediately grips my
attention. Their new single "Story of a broken boy" is impressively
showcased by a band that are worth a second look.
So that's my rather limited potted view of Bed-Rock. I have no idea how the
event ran at our sister venue The Civic, but one can say that here at Esquires
it ran to time, thanks to sound engineers Faz and Mash. The party atmosphere
improved as the festival ran its course. The only complaint I can make is why
start on a Friday afternoon when some people could not attend, rather than the
normal weekend of Saturday and Sunday. Only a slight gripe.