Blackout with Scratchplate and Twisted Pastry.

Priory Methodist church hall, Newnham Avenue, Bedford. Saturday 5th March 2005.



Who said Bedford doesn’t have a local scene? There was the above venue opened for a gig put on by Blackout and guests, Esq. had four top bands and even the Danny’s bar part of Esq. had a great act. (Capo-Jr.). The gig at Newnham Avenue started at 7.00 till an extended 9.00pm and kicked off with what was billed as Amplexus but unless the band was changed or I fell for some kind of joke the first band called them selves TWIZTED PASTRY, in which the first noticeable thing was a pretty competent lead guitarist who was able to carry off some of the more complex structured songs. All of which were covers, although I had the feeling were covers of covers as some of the songs were incorrectly introduced as not having been written by the band mentioned but were covered by that band at some point instead.
The drummer seemed to be quite hidden and sounded unnoticeable while dwarfed behind the kit at times. They got through some appealing covers including the Led Zeppelin opener, which was a way to begin in true style, I thought the Green Day cover was particularly good also. I liked the duet parts of the singing and thought they sounded fine but on the whole a bit strained like a bad karaoke night, it was all well performed though, with one of the songs asked to be dedicated to …cakes. A good choice of covers and really not bad for a first gig.

I’ve never seen SCRATCHPLATE before, the only thing I knew about them was that they do mostly covers but have a few songs of their own. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting anything special so please don’t think I’m just using the word amazing to describe them when in actual fact I was in fact literally amazed. It was a surprise to me just how good I thought this band was. I’m not going to be boring and say that they are predominantly a cover band, as this was one of their first gigs at a venue filled mainly by people they know, who would like what they are familiar with and are a young band just starting, but with the talent they have I’m sure it wont be long before they get more experience and more of their own material which would be good to see, especially as the songs which were done by them were received so well. The drumming was an instantly noticeable showcase of talent. I thought there was a slight AC/DC influence to them which later proved a good notion as they later done some of their covers, while getting the crowd to throw the devil horns during the cover of Highway to Hell (at a church venue as well!). There were some old school rock covers and a Wildhearts song which gets my respect for having such a class choice of songs performed live.
The Superman T-shirted bassist looked left out but played well, while their guitarists show that they are at the stage of having been playing for a number of years, in being remarkably good. The front man (and what a front man) used to be in Blackout who I’m sure must have been sorry to have lost him as he had the most show men of personalities, engaging the crowd between tracks, not quite verging on coming over as a bigheaded, – more of a competent consummate entertainer.
I urge this band to stick with it, get some more of your own material (you already show you can do it well) as it would be a great shame not to see this band again. I stand before Scratchplate thoroughly impressed.

On to the main organisers of this show now with BLACKOUT who I had seen before and was as suitably impressed. They kind of have their own style, which compares to an epic wall of sound with melodic overtones blended in. The singing seems natural and not forced and allows their own style to shine in a more individual way, even when doing covers. Special mention to their bass demon who moved well on stage and added to the atmospheric tones of the songs.
Not just a band but a healthy fan base of friends of the band in to the bargain as well, - a useful fact for future promoters to remember! This band had the most of their own songs but the covers used were from bands that I particularly like, so this band go down well for me personally; and it seemed the crowd thought the same and were engaged in a healthy mosh pit for most of the time. They over ran for time but ended on the sweet note of a saccharin edged System Of A Down cover, finishing quite a packed entertaining night of talent and atmosphere.

www.blackout.org.uk
www.scratchplate.tk


Review by Keith www.bedfordmetal.tk