'BEDFORD METAL Presents:
The Thursday Showcase.
Danny's Bar Bedford Esquires Lev 1.
March 2007.
Keith. www.bedfordmetal.co.uk
Throughout March Bedford Metal hosted the Danny's bar Thursday Showcase nights.
All six of them! - The Sixth one being a 'best of' on the Thursday before Good
Friday in April elevated to Level 2.
Here then is a complete overview of these immensely popular gigs to remind those
who went and for those who missed out and also a complete review of one of the
most successful from Matt Turnbull!
The first was on THURSDAY 1st MARCH (St. David's day) .
with THE
ESCAPE remembering to bring their daffodils and providing a class rock act
with mainly covers and a few of their own. They went down quite well in the pub
style setting and are one of the youngest acts, already having gig experience
with us at the Ath. In addition to their school rock concerts at Mark
Rutherford.
The above band were being looked after by older school pupils in the shape of
the much experienced THE
INSPIRATION easily one of Bedford's best indy bands with a style of tunes
more listenable to a wider audience, tight, rehearsed and incredibly well timed
and go down well at most places.
The following and friends of The Inspiration SENTIDO
had came up all the way from Devon for this gig and were a good example of a
class rock act, and looked as though they were most enjoyed by the crowd.
Worthy headliners of that night who put everything in to it THE
UNDERDOSED and played not as if they were in what is at the end of the day
(god I hate that expression) just a pub but played as if on the big stage and
really rocked out, with their rock fuelled indy sound, especially towards the
end, where the singer guitarist rolled on to his back to perform, they put in a
really good performance and hope he didn't get carpet burns!
THURSDAY 8th MARCH.
was the rock band night, with
added blues in the form of BLUESHOUND GREYBAND with
Stevie Ray Vaughn like guitar skills and an amazing blues sound. If you like
Bedford's Fifth Quarter and Granddad's van then this is the Luton version.
PATCHIE was our solo
acoustic guitarist of the night, coming from Harlington, who bought with him a
mass of material both his own and covers all talentedly done to a captive
audience.
New band to the Bedford scene and one of the best new bands to appear this year INNUENDO
with an original vocal stance and an indy/rock edge. These guys really
delivered. I'm sure they are going to be well received and one to look out for
in the future. - Check them out at The Ath. 20th April.
One of the funniest moments of these nights had to be when the most amazing
guitar solo was played during a break between sound checks, the bar staff and
people in the room gave a round of applause, the sound engineer asked the band
to prepare for the sound check and the guy started walking off, when asked where
he was going he replied that he was the drummer. This was VALEN
TONE an up n coming Bedford rock act who also put everything in to their
performance, helped enormously by having two vocalists keeping the singing side
fresh while the sometimes manic guitars strut their stuff.
Intense is the best way to describe the headliners of that night CASCADE
nothing jolly about their music, rich dark atmospheric tones, pretty amazing
drumming and a bass player with a hat similar to the Witch Finder General.
THURSDAY 15th MARCH. was the big metal one with FINAL
PROTOTYPES kicking off with a lighter sound of rock with some good guitar
work let down only by the singers inability to sing which is the only part of a
potentially really good band that needs practice, polish and perhaps lessons. It
probably stands out more because the drumming and guitar work have such a
concentrated high quality to them.
It was time to take it up a step next with BLACK
REVERANCE with a grind-core technical death metal sound, the vocals stand
out as unique, fitting perfectly with the cacophony of heavy sound, a band to
look out for.
SLAVE TO NATURE headlined
this night with their Trivium influenced edge, they had a C.D. hot off the press
that night with some blistering songs matching the acrobatical in places guitar
playing of both heavy and melodic proportions. You need good vocals to match and
fortunately this they have. I even recognised whose style and found out that
singing lessons were being provided by the person whose stile it was that I
detected shining through. A band more than ready to take it to the next level
and indeed they will on -this Thursday on Level 2.
THURSDAY 22nd MARCH. was the punk night and what an
explosively packed night it was - take it away Matt Turnbull:
The first band to hit the stage were Global Transition.
These guys had a good sound for the type of music they played. Unfortunately
they were let down by the vocals which seemed to drift in and out of key.
However he did play Guitar and sing so a little slack can be given. Over all
these guys played a good set, I especially enjoyed there cover of Nirvana '
Smells like teen spirit'.
I was especially looking forward to this next band The
kicking k's. Living close to me I had heard them before and I knew they
would go down well at Danny's Bar. These guys bought a huge crowd with them,
giving them every confidence to win the crowd. When the band stared I was
totally wiped away with how professional these guys sounded, every member had
there own individual part which complimented the Music. Good powerful vocals and
mind blowing bass lines just blew me away. Earning themselves a gig on level 2
on April 5th with the loudest crowd cheers at the beginning and end of the
night, I'm especially looking forward to seeing these guys again. Next up was Onward
2 Victory When the band started playing they let out a very blues
professional feel with outstanding guitar work and a good strong beat from the
drummer. The female vocalist added a whole new dimension to the music, perhaps
needing a little more gusto. One thing I remember very well was that I could not
hear the bass player!! I could see his fingers moving around but I could not
hear any sound. Overall they played a good set and were a good band to watch. I
think they deserve to have more gigs.
The final band to hit the stage was The Quandary.
The crowd for this band were quite merry. I'm not sure whether it was the music
the band was playing was happy or it was just the end of the night and everyone
was drunk.
The whole band overall put on a good show. The singer could have been more
talkative with the crowd but it wasn't essential. The vocals defiantly needed
more work on but I think they got away with that due to everyone being so happy.
Having this band on last was a good way to end the night and I think everyone
went home happy.
GLOBAL TRANSITION. KICKING
KAYS . ONWARD
2 VICTORY. THE
QUANDARY .
Review by Matt Turnbull.
Thursday 29th March. And what a night this was APEX
from Luton with their curt cobain Esq. front man who probably won't remember
the last time he cut his hair, pure grunge with some energetic guitars and a
return of the drummer from the blues band the other week. I thought they made a
well suited jam like performance for the venue.
This was indeed a fun night and the next act was no exception, from DANNY
YOUNG f rom HeKz with an acoustic set, played sitting on a tall chair with a
captive audience sitting in front, starting with Ozzy Ozbourn's 'Dreamer' and
other bands songs including 'God was Never on your Side' 'Nothing Else Matters',
'Another Time', an acoustic version of their own 'Dead of Night' then 'Ace of
Spades', guests on the night included the new guitarist from Slave To Nature and
his older brother from HeKz adding to vocal duties. Danny's singing was
remarkably good and suited some of the bluesy rifed songs he was covering. This
made up for missing the one and only time he sand on a HeKz gig in Luton last
year.
Were talking 'stadium style' performance with SCAVENGERS
DAUGHTER who just blew the crowd away. A first Class metal act putting on an
amazing show and surprisingly their first gig in Bedford. One of the older,
experienced bands of these nights wanting this venue as their last gig with
their lead guitarist and what a gig to go out on. They are all the coolest
people you could meet and I was so proud to have put them on. I hope they will
be back when they re group.
Probably a tough act to follow but AORTIC
DISSECTION with new lead singer - (ex Ex-Nihilo) giving a different style of
pure technical guitar riffs and howling vocals, another band to look out for and
with the emphasis on Heavy. These also are due to play the level two night on
Thursday.
So there it is then Bedford Metal's Showcase Thursdays, my grateful thanks to
all those who came down and supported, a big up yours if you didn't - especially
the ones who say they don't see any talented Bedford bands. Abig thanks to all
the bands, especially the ones who provided the drums. Massive thanks to
Esquires, Pete Burrage for setting up and Paul Craven for sound.