MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU!.
Yellowknife Bay, Broken Conscience, Kill Confirmed, Last Ditch Attempt.

Holy Molys, Lev 1 Esquires, Bedford.Sunday 4th May 2014.

Tonight Bedford Alternative Music presented another of their regular ‘May The Fourth Be With You’ nights. Today is of course officially known to all of the many fans throughout the world as ‘Star Wars Day’! To commemorate the occasion, Bedford’s finest are gathered in Holy Molys for a rare, but special Sunday evening gig. Before I review all of our various musical delectations, I have a major confession to make. I have never ever in my entire life watched Star Wars, let alone all the subsequent sequels. Also I’m quite certain that the forthcoming Carrie Fisher et all final ever get together due for release in late 2015, will as well be missing from my list of must see films. I am however acutely aware of all the additional characters that make up this moving pictures legacy. It’s nice to report that a few people in attendance took the time and trouble to suitably dress accordingly.

The first band to entertain us are LAST DITCH ATTEMPT. These local boys are on a real galactic high, as last night in Luton’s Castle Tavern they successfully triumphed in the semi final heat of the Metal To The Masses and so now move on to the final of a competition to win a slot at the prestigious Bloodstock Festival. Its clear to see that the winning confidence is still firmly with them, as the spirit burns brightly. The band have a dreads adorned vocalist and he portrays a spiky exterior, an aggressive in yer face demeanor, but thankfully his real aim and thought is to connect with rather than provoke the baying audience. He informs and makes us fully aware and in no doubt to just who we are watching, by shouting out 2Yes yes we are Last Ditch Attempt”, violently shaking his hair strewn head, he defiantly adds “Bedford hometown, we love it”. Its not long before he steps off of the raised stage and on to the payers domain.
With an initial waft of atmospheric smoke, a song which I believe to be entitled Wood And Oil truly sends forth a blast of tungsten coated noise. The ante is further raised when they command everyone present to “Get F****n nasty!”

KILL CONFIRMED follow, they enter the stage to the appropriate Star Wars themed intro, initially in direct comparison to L.D.A., this Stevenage quartet have a slightly static presence. I would put this down more to nerves, as they are the guests for the particular party. They purvey melodic metal and it soon gets people moving. I was very impressed with Beyond Black, which I believe is a forthcoming download available song. Their set and movement does develop well. The Ghost That Haunts is as they tell us, “A bit on the ballady side”. A cover of Paranoid is followed by The Decent, where upon there appears to be a mysterious outbreak of foil hats!???

BROKEN CONSCIENCE up the decibel levels which heavy stuff stacks up rapidly with Demonise and then the equally intimidating Psychosis. They continue apace with a cover of Dark Days by Takeaway Drive. The band then have a confusing but frank admission. They tell us they were going to have a guest vocalist, but he unfortunately didn’t turn up! So they quickly reorganised things themselves, even though they had to sacrifice bass! Pounding drum work infuses an energetic set of lively material.

YELLOWKNIFE BAY change the musical flow of the evening, they inject a slightly punkier element to the proceedings. From the off, they encourage everyone “To the centre of the room”. This is a band that take great pride in their sharp and sparky impetulance. Deadly, which features on the bands E.P. sounds like it could come unstuck at any given moment. Ragingly rampant, it pounds with a zealousness of effort and simply bundles of attitude. This is a polished show and they don’t seem to suffer the inconsistent vocals of the last two bands. A fine achievement, as the singer is suffering from the effects of a cold. Ah! The merits of good ol Daynurse! One song contains a bizarre admission. As they claim it “Sounds a bit like Kings Of Leon, we think”? essentially we know what they mean, it’s a slowish one, with a shouty bit later on. The lyrics add a touch of welcome slush, “Honey you know you’re my darling”.
With a mosh pit that was consistently exuberant, this was all in all, a good atmospheric evening, with praiseworthy performances from everyone involved and all for the price of three of your English pounds!