Bedford Alternative Music Presents: The Monstor Showcase (best of) - Black Polaris, Keep Cool Casanova, Centre Excuse, Set Your Sights, The Good Hookers.

Bedford Esquires Lev 2 Friday 5th April 2012.

NOTE: Review by Martin Stapleton (Reviews sent in for submission do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor!) Photos (c)Bedford Alternative Music 2012.

Once again it’s the Bedford Alternative Music Maundy Thursday extravaganza, which this year is themed as The Monster Showcase. The always imaginative posters which advertise the gigis especially good for this one.
For whatever reasons the room is surprisingly not too busy, but the people who are here seem to enjoy the occasion immensely. First on are THE GOOD HOOKERS. With favourable impressions left from their last Esquires visit, the band recon that its Cool to be here.
They display plenty of male pride and are on a quest to subvert expectations, using some sexually charged metaphors plus a big dollop of humour. A sonic semblance of sweat oozes and drips from each of their lustful compositions, if anyone thought The Good Hookers were going to mellow on us with their gentle intro S.E.X. then ideas were soon to be blown clean away as the song explodes into life. Big ballsy rockers come to the fore most notably on the weirdly titled Breed Me A Whore!

From Luton are SET YOUR SIGHTS, its my second viewing of them and again proves to be enjoyable, they revolve heavily around their vocalist, who is superb at interacting with the crowd. Visually he is so alive, his wry topless frame moves everywhere on the mainstage. It needs to, because its quite chilly up there tonight. His charm is infectious, especially when its time to Put Your Hands Up. The three guitarists beef up a band who could be loosely described as a veritable mix of soulful poppy hardcore, yes really. The results are fruitful.

It was a shame I missed CENTRE EXCUSE here last time. Judging by tonights show, this is a tight knit professional outfit who know what they want and hopefully can get it. Their merchandise stall is mighty impressive for a band just starting out. It brings this reviewers mind back to 2005 when a little known St. Albans band called Enter Shikari first came to Esquires. Centre Excuse come fully armed with an arsenal of T shirts, C.D. s, badges etc. comparisons are to be made. The lads firstly have a C.D. for sale, its called All Systems Go. Professionally produced by the esteemed engineer Lester Woodward. It came out as far back as 2010. They have moved on a lot since then. A bouncy and lively trio who feature Jamie Rush (bass, vocals) Teddy Lewis (vocals, keyboards) Alex Rush (drums). The album features a very brave cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart, which disappointingly they don’t play tonight. Their ever fertile songwriting ideas have certainly sprouted forth as time flies by, the front man possesses such a great voice, this is priceless to any band.
Don’t Let Go echoes around the room. Handclapping participation abounds to Where Do We Go. Stop Drop and Roll is the bands new single and has just come out. Their sound is very early eighties electronic which is further enhanced by some punchy drumwork and a guitarist who constantly runs off and around the stage and beyond. Great entertainment and a band to keep an eye out for.

KEEP COOL CASANOVA are out of their depth tonight and pain me enormously. Their only highlight is the Inspector Gadget intro. A six piece who have little interaction with anyone except their select bunch of fans. The front man struggles constantly with his hoodie which provides more entertainment than the electro driven music.

BLACK POLARIS run rampant with some tungsten coated hardcore thuggery, with some obligatory sandpapered vocals, which dare I say has been heavily flooded with paint stripper. This is the real deal as they unleash a forty minutes mix of spin kicking, brain shaking behemoth. They seamlessly balance jarring time changes and sheer power in a rock scene where haircuts and ink dominate. Its great that Black Polaris can keep the less fashion conscious metal fan happy and sane. They produce truck loads of angsty frownage, but humour plays a part with their fun tribute to Lady Ga Ga You Know The Words, their dedicated followers do and lap it up.
I must also make a passing. It was reported earlier today that Jim Marshall who invented the hard driven amplifier had died aged 88 years old RIP to the father of loud!