Wednesday 18 April 2001, Bedford Esquires.
When I was hanging round in the bar before Esquires, one of my mates said that the first band was supposedly some kind of "fucking thrash band". I obviously did not believe that, but when the black clad memebrs came onstage and launched into Metallica's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" I was very pleasantly surprised. Their live delivery was energetic, with lots of stage presence and heroic metal poses from the vocalist and relatively tight for what was probably their first gig. But by the end of the set, I was growing more and more disappointed - the crap sound was usual for new breed nights, but the lack of original material was a bit galling. Their one own song sounded like pantera with more extreme screaming vocals, which was disappointing due to its lack of originality.
Serabis, the second band on the bill played emotional grunge-metal with female vocals. Their live delivery was average, but with more experience they should get better. They were very tight, with good musicianship and singing. If they add some better songwriting and write catchy song, they might get good in time... But a good show nonetheless, although not really heavy enough for me..
The third band, In League With Stan looked like pop-punks personified - workshirts, stickers of cartoony buxom chicks, geeky drummer - everything a pop-punk band needs. Apart from stage presence, and energetic songs. Having to battle sound problems throughout the set also did not help the band. However, the audience reaction was ecstatic, probably due to the fact that it was made up of their schoolmates, and their delivery was quite tight, considering the sound problems. Hopefully they will improve by their next gig and write some faster songs.
When the headliners came on stage I was at first amused at the age of the band (13-14) and immediately dismissed them. As soon as they started playing, I realised how fucking wrong I was. Starting off with an intro of a blast of enrgetic punk, they launched into a blink182 cover, and continued in a similar vein for the whole set. The music was pop-punk but with a more fast old skool punk riffs, very tightly delivered with a musicianship better than that of many far older than the band. Borderline were an excellent headliner of an interesting New Breed Nite, promising a bright future for the local scene.
Pete Burov