Bedford Alternative Music Presents: Speedshot C.D. Launch, Fenix Fire, Facedown, White Lines To Sunset.

Bedford Esquires Lev 2 Friday 12th March 2010.

Poster by Burkey

Photos and Videos (c)Bedford Alternative Music 2010, Also Jez Brown where stated.

REVIEW ONY BY keith.

The most appreciatively noticeable things about WHITE LINES TO SUNSET is probably the wide appealing nature of their sound, they are a band that do not disappoint and could fit various styled line ups and crowd size of venue. The singing from the guitarist is also a positive boon; this is proper singing as opposed to someone just 'avin a go'. They have a rock fused pop punk sound that somehow engages an audience being played to. Good to see their drummer is allowed bursts of solo drum gallops in and between songs at times. Their bassist its good to see uses the stage well and moves around while playing, also throwing punk like 'we dont care what we sound like vocals' backing the sound off rather well. Some songs are definitely better than others with some that have guitar bridges that just dont seem thought through and are either non existent or unable to recover from any stray chords creating a flop in the guitar sections. The up down strumming in most songs, while sounding catchy, doesnt always lift the band higher than a raw punk level attitude, but when the more classy rock elements break through along with the professional sounding vocals, then the band swing to full stride mode and are never better when it all comes together as a live force to be reckoned with.

Local lads FACEDOWN have the potential to grow on the local scene and hopefully expand their fan base, they have now had their first Lev 1 and 2 gigs of their home town venue and eager to play more. They need also, to get out of town and play surrounding areas also, where I am sure they would go down well. They seem a tight act with only some of the guitar solos letting them down in some songs. OK mistakes were made but they recovered well and demonstrated some anthem like chant songs with only a few dull numbers, although engaging with the crowd and flashing LED words on the singers belt adding to the spectacle. Their outsized bassist throws all the essential poses looking every inch the part with a good stage presence along with a great sounding moody bass line to the songs. The drumming is top rate if at times a bit predictable and tappy. Its when Facedown throw everything together including backing vocals to anthem like choruses that they are fully in their element. The vocals are quite oi oi punk like but belted out really well and one of the best assets of the band, especially the more rock out numbers. The only way is up boys!

A veritable visual stage show presence next given to us from Nottingham based FENIX FIRE who are quite a showy band complimented with shaped hair, face make up and stage attire! We are given some slick movements from their bassist, who both plays well while putting everything in to a continual fluid flow of movement. The incendiary of pounding beats from their young drummer was faultless, hitting a rhythm with his thatch of blond hair bobbing along while playing. This is a band capable of really putting on a show and its good to see a visual spectacle in a stage performance. They just need to hone in on their sound and have a hard think about what songs work and which clearly dont and throw out the weaker material out of a live set. Some of their material includes really likeable sing along tunes while others seem made up on the spot with out of tune vocals and non existent guitar bridges, as if they are playing unfinished tunes that they need to write before prioritising the excitement of performing them. Requesting their video to be wiped perhaps a testament to them acknowledging some songs are not as good as others. When they do get it right though they come over as a show giving fantastic band.

For just a three piece SPEEDSHOT were easily the show stealing headliners and a trio of energy performed in a way that is evident of them having fun while playing. Continually pulling faces, grimacing and gurning their way through the set. A newly arranged version of their song Me and a new song Bad News added to their rep while dropping the AC/DC cover, making their set fresh for their Escaped Oafs tour and C.D. launch. I didnt think Bad News was as strong as some of their earlier epics which range from Motorhead fastness, Guns n Roses vocal whines and Wildhearts melodic fusions and live favourites like Snakebite which stirred what the band claimed as their first major mosh.
Each member is a particularly good musician with their musical tool of the trade. Just when you think the drumming may be in danger of veering towards repetition, you get a burst of extra beats to pep the song up. Theres a great broodingly dirty bass line and guitar thrills that keep the tune, accentuate the solos and add to the bewildering variety of movement while playing. With splits, amp climbing, movement on stage (and off), running and clambering around this outfit consisting of Guy Fawkes in a hat on drums, a beanpole with a mop top and a zebra trousered explosion of movement and playing ability, they are outright performers guaranteed to raise a smile and defiantly no shoe gazers.

REVIEWED TWO BY Martin Stapleton.

Bedford Alternative Music presented a night that had a young local flavour running right through it. Admittedly they had travelled a few miles to be with us, but WHITE LINES TO SUNSET were a credit to the Dunstable music scene. Indeed they included a song that was so powerful and emotive. It was called "96" and dealt with the tragic events that unfolded on an April afternoon in 1989 at Hillsborough football ground, Sheffield. The ninety six in the title is the number of unfortunate souls who were crushed to death on that terrible spring day. This trio gave it the utmost sensitivity and respect. This band got better and better the more they advanced into their set. Displaying a fluid pop punk style, White Lines To Sunset gain from having two flexible vocalists. Other songs of note are "Loser", of which the lyrics "waste of time" are spat out with a certain degree of fury and "The Last Days of Summer" is also admirably performed.

For local music fans who hanker back to the mid-noughties and pine for the good old days of Grim City or Gain, then FACEDOWN sate your obvious desire. The quartet are the byproduct of these past forgotten bands. Perhaps the intervening years may have matured these often unpredictable musicians, but sadly it's not the case. Visually they are impressive, but the songs are easily forgotten. The worst though, has to be their cover of "Hot Stuff" (a seventies disco song by Donna Summer). Very camp, it merely serves as a warm-up for an even more outrageous cover. Anyone for "Gay Bar"? Indeed they are so corny that Facedown should be sponsored by Kelloggs!

Although FENIX FIRE are Nottingham based, they do contain a couple of faces from Bedford's recent past. Their visit tonight is a tie-up with Speedshot. Apparently the roles are being reversed on Sunday night in Nottingham. This is a band who, on tonight's performance, hugely disappoint. They certainly look the part, clad in black with eyeliner by the bucketload. Perhaps that is the source of the problem. The impression that they make is not backed up by any musical substance. Having seen Fenix Fire before, I know that they are capable of so much better.

For SPEEDSHOT, as well as being headliners in their home town, tonight is launch night for their recently released EP "Escaped Oafs". At present it's a busy and exciting time for the likeable young trio. They are currently embarking on their first tour and on the whole it has started well. By their own admission they were below par in High Wycombe, but having witnessed subsequent gigs in both London and Luton, things are coming together nicely. Nottingham, Northampton and Cambridge are in due course on Speedshot's radar. They are keen to promote three new songs which, for me, are met with mixed results. "Start Again" is a riff-hugging winner that could in time rival "Snakebite" as a crowd shouting outro. What of "Get It"? Well, it's a slow burner, while "Bad News", for us older music aficionados, conjures up memories of Vim and the boys! For the fashion spotters in attendance, drummer Michele wears a trilby in remembrance of a friend, while the 'beanpole' that is Burkey sports a very old Wildhearts T-shirt. Preferring to keep their set totally original, their encore is interestingly handled. A brief taster of Kiss is the parting thought for us all tonight, "God gave rock 'n' roll to ya"!