Weightloss, Dummyrun, Under Foreign Order.

Esquires Level 2 Bedford. Saturday 18th June 05.

At short notice, the headline act - Barberluck had pulled out, so it was a good job at short notice also, that a fourth band had been added to the line up, otherwise there would only have been two bands performing, in which case, they would probably have candled the gig.

I felt quite proud to say that I was behind getting UNDER FOREIGN ORDER their first gig at Esquires. They are also already booked to play a Friday coming up (29th July) with popular Bedford bands alongside, which should be a busy night to make up for the rather thin on the ground crowd this evening. Being a young band undertaking the opening act to a small crowd at a first time played venue must have been quite a daunting feat, they also play a different style to the two remaining ska acts that were to follow. They pulled it off though - easy enough I suppose when you have competent musicians and some really good material. They have amassed quite a few of their own songs and just lately have had some successful live experience in the Hitchin area where they come from, having played The Pheonix and Club 85 where they comfortably added a Libertines cover to their set.
They have a kind of funky, intelligent, rock sound with amazingly played dark bass tones and a use of guitar that is quite effective (and I use that word with precision), using effects pedal and guitar to create avant-garde effective sounds in with the playing.
Their wriggly on stage front man moves around well, while singing. I think with a long intro to the first song, he could perhaps remain off stage until the singing begins, creating more of an entrance. After a nervous start, they soon became a tight well-rehearsed enjoyable band. I would certainly recommend Under Foreign Order and would be happy to see them gain a large Bedford crowd to show a bit of support at their next gig.

DUMMYRUN are like an on stage explosion of party fuelled energy, hard to believe there is only three of them at times. I even have a favourite song which I like to see them do live 'Strength In Numbers' - which they played well on the night, (Although not an apt title for tonight's turnout).
They have a ska punk without the brass section sound and sound quite polished nonetheless. They seem to have a clever way of mixing hard-hitting gritty punk with a warm vibe. Their singer adopts a trademark like way of staring up at the ceiling when singing, almost as if his lyrics are taped up there - Ha bless him, I'm not a huge lover of ska punk but these still seem able to be interesting and entertaining live.

WEIGHTLOSS - This is probably the band that got me more in to this genre of music, fully brassed ska and showing a huge amount of musical talent.
Their trumpet player seems to know all the vocals so I'm surprised he doesn't come up to the mic. more to provide more backing vocals. Exceptionally good drumming also from their mostly naked drummer, putting in loads of energy on a rather hot stage (and no electric fan!).
As well as the brass, the bass plays an integral part of their sound also, with a personally preferred style that he adopts. They have a new C.D. out now (their 3rd I think) and some new songs were played tonight, much to the delight of the people skanking in the mosh pit up front.
There's some really good main guitar work as well, which makes it such a pity that this type of music doesn't incorporate more and heavier riffs. Its true that each of their instrument players ability amazes me more than most bands this includes their lead singer who has to sing at such a fast speed without tripping up over the words while juggling with moving about on stage also.
This local band have came a long way since their beginning and are soon to play London with Amen. So things are looking up for this best example of a ska punk band.

REVIEW 2

Reviewed by Martin Stapleton

Having turned up expecting to see Barbar Luck headline tonight, it was extremely disappointing to learn that they had pulled out at the last minute.

First band tonight were WEIGHTLOSS, purveyors of a fine Ska-punk sound. Second song 'Without Reason' and also 'Human Rights' made for an enjoyable twenty-five minutes.

DUMMY RUN then gave us their Green Day influenced brand of Punk Rawk and it was good to catch them live again. Playing such oldies as 'Strength in numbers' and 'Riot in the Alley' allied to some new numbers (which they are recording for their new album), Dummy Run gave us rich entertainment.

The final band of the evening were the wonderfully titled UNDER FOREIGN ORDERS who I have not seen before but of whom I was very impressed. I am a sucker for a bit of brass in a band and Under Foreign Orders brought plenty. For fans of full on, stripped down Ska, this is your band!



Review 1 by Keith www.bedfordmetal.co.uk Review 2 by Martin Stapleton www.bedfordesquires.co.uk