Bedford Alternative Music Presents: The Thursday Showcase.
Your First Autumn, Kids Picked Last, Attika, Watch The Walls.

Bedford Esquires Lev 1 Thursday 13th August 2009.

Photos (c)Bedford Alternative Music 2009.

REVIEW ONE BY Keith.

YOUR FIRST AUTUMN
I know its unfair to judge a sound check but during theirs I thought this band seemed pretty lame and out of tune. When they started their proper set however, I was quite bowled over by their explosive on stage energy, putting everything in to a fast run around of visual performance.
Their guitarist who like a friendly mouth on legs quite suited to bellowing down the mic at sound checks seemed however to hide him self during the live set, while the other members took turns in having an up front turn. Screamo vocals (not all in tune) and growls, formed the duel singing duties with a nifty bit of drumming and melodic tunes throughout, quite similar to a lot of other bands with nothing too reinvigoratingly new, but a good overall sound and a performance so lively that it was hard to capture anything other than a blurred swirl on a live shot photo.

KIDS PICKED LAST
I quite like a bit of rave, but wasnt quite sure how these would go down on a night where more metal bands requested to play. On a bill more in tune with their unique style Im sure they would make a great success to the night. They were however pretty awesome to see. A rotivator of glow stick spewing action came from up front and the kids tranced us with some rock and rave action. I thought the subtle vocals went well with the sound, while rougher screaming growls would not have suited so well. It was good to hear some quite effective keyboards from their most capable player switching from keys to guitar throughout the set. When they get bigger than the mostly ignored by Esquires Enter Shikari during their early gigs you can claim that you were at the Showcase night watching Kids Picked Last before they hit the big time (Well they seemed better than Enter Shikari when they first started!)

ATTIKA
This metal four piece from Luton and no stranger to our gig nights were back for a special show for their guitarist Bujj. It would certainly be hard to find anyone at all who could say a bad word about this much liked musician, alternating between single and twin necked guitars.
Their drummer always exhausts a tight set out of the kit blending the rock with the metal with the heavy and the melodic, the band has it all, yea we saw you twiddling the drum sticks like a well practiced pro. Definitely the tightest well practiced set of the night and the band that has been around together the longest of the bands on the bill. They split up ages ago and have been doing nothing but reunion shows ever since.
While showing their instrument skills the band members seem to be having such a great time while playing, its good to see them having fun on stage while throwing great tunes our way. The less heavy songs seem to be sung so much better than their early days and work better than the more rasping growling tones from other songs. Looking forward to their next last reunion gig already.

WATCH THE WALLS
The party vibe kind of left with Attika and the room didnt seem as full for when Watch The Walls opened. The fag breakers were late in, missing the escaped from Alco anonymous shenanigans of the female fan/loony interloper, making an ass of herself to a band who continued professionally to play through some puzzled but annoyed looks. The singing still seems a tad off kilter in places, but the songs are sounding better all the time. I really dont think the Green Day Cover works for them, making their own material seem much better and practiced, certainly suiting their rock/punk/pop/indie/swing style. Its great that they are not pigeonholing themselves. Their drummer swings side to side like hes playing with the Beatles at times, until their Led Zep like rock out piece bursts in during a more rock out section to the track and as if catching up on missed beats, hurls himself in to drum swinging action.
Infectiously catchy songs and subtle bursts of playing ability make up this up and coming three piece. If they are this good at their present early stage, their future looks bright.

REVIEW TWO BY Martin Stapleton

Thursday rolls around and right on cue, it's another showcase evening courtesy of Bedford Alternative Music. Stealing the show are Luton metal lads ATTIKA, especially as it's frontman Bujj's birthday. I have a feeling it's going to be a special set and I am not to be disappointed. Although I will gloss over the fact that Bujj is wearing a leopard skin print fedora (but not for long), plus a pair of shiny Dr Frankenstein boots. As befitting the most experienced band on show tonight, Attika are extremely honed and tight. Noticeably, it seems as if the birthday boy is determined to play each song with a different guitar! In fact, one voice from the audience points this out in no uncertain terms "Too many guitars"! Amusing, but also very factual. Possibly the most gobsmackingly over the top 'axe' is unleashed on "Angelic Gold". As this twin guitar is strapped on, all the eyes are fully focussed on Bujj. Both the song and the finger picking skills are perfect. The unique guitar works in perfectly as it fully encapsulates the gentle and violent nature of the piece. "Unforgiven Darkness" reverberates with it's oh so heavy intro. During a brief hold up, I enjoyed the remark that the guitarist made about his sticksman. "Drummers! They are the cyclists of the musician world!" Obviously the comment of a gas-guzzler! The flexibility of Attika shone through with "Heavy Metal Blues". A song that fulfils the title exactly. A final blast on "Welcome to the Nightmare" is met with loud applause, and deservedly so.

Headlining, and continuing to improve and impress, are Flitwick trio WATCH THE WALLS. It's nice to see the confidence growing and the development stemming from it. An appearance at the recent students band competition in Bedford Corn Exchange drew strange comments about the denomination of the band. A trio can be a force. Just think of Nirvana, The Jam, Green Day etc, etc. Tonight there is a young lady, fuelled on too many 'cloudy fruit juices'(!), and determined to disrupt the boys' performance. With the input of all bandmembers on songwriting, there is a good degree of variation to their pop-punk roots. I find "You Know" to be their best song, a real grower. At present, this is a young band that I always look forward to seeing.

Of the other two bands on show, it was a shame that YOUR FIRST AUTUMN were only afforded four songs. A five piece whose energy was to be admired, with a blonde haired screaming vocalist who gets maximum support by his guitar section. Unfortunately, it's only a brief taster. "Chinese Whispers" is a fine finale.

The less said about KIDS PICKED LAST the better. Lets just say that its young adults trying to copy Enter Shikari! Not a very memorable thirty minutes of my life. I did like their acoustic song to lighten the mood.