Saturday 30th. August 2003, Bedford Esquires.
Having only ever seen one of these bands before (CATCF), I wasn’t too sure what to expect from the night, apart from an obvious appearance from punk. The gig could have benefited from the intended appearance from Weightloss, who describe themselves as “funky jazzy bluesy skacore”, just for anyone who wasn’t sure.
The first band to play, Frogstupid, were a replacement for Weightloss (I think), and certainly conveyed a similar style. The band contained trumpet, sax and trombone, and played a good varied set of ska. They had a good sound, and gained a decent crowd response, taking into account the amount of people present, which was somewhat small. Some of the band didn’t seem too comfortable though, and at times I think the bassists fingers were the only part of his body that moved while he stood staring at the back of the hall, but overall they gave a good start to the night.
The next band up, The Impostors, had a slightly heavier approach to their music, which again went down reasonably with the crowd. The cross-dressed drummer put on a good performance, managing to play and sing at the same time, which is not easy to pull off well. However, when the singing went over to the other members of the band, it often seemed a bit uneasy, but all together the set wasn’t bad at all. Their stage presence could have been better, and they might have gained a better response if there was more interaction with the crowd.
Playing their first gig in a while, CATCF (formerly recognised as Chico and the Chocolate Factory), easily stole the night with their performance. They played with superior professionalism and quality, and in turn gained a good response from the crowd. The singer made good use of the stage size available to him, even if he did keep pulling the bassist’s lead out! The band played with good timing and rhythm, and put on a great show with a very impressive stage appearance. The band have good musical quality, and are a definite to see for anyone who likes original punk.
The headliners for the night, Odd Man Out, in my opinion didn’t really deserve the position of headliners at this particular gig, and unfortunately came across more as “Odd band out”. They played a lot heavier than the other acts, and were perhaps too much of a contrast to CATCF to fit in properly. They didn’t go down too well with the crowd, and didn’t get much response from those who stuck around for them. Their music came across as repetitive to me at times, and there could have been more contrast to the heavy riffs, which might make them work with more effect. However, I was impressed by the drummer, and the band certainly played with a great amount of energy, and I’m certain they would go down a lot better with a different crowd on a different night.
Overall, the night was slightly disappointing, and really would have profited from a larger crowd, and probably a different order of line up’s.
Review by Tom Outen.