Saturday 21st July 2001, Bedford Esquires.
As I came into the venue I noticed that there was almost no one I knew there, and the majority of the audience was made up of indie kids. This did not bode well for the bands, as indie crowds are notorious for their minimal reaction to the bands they came to see. The opening band, then, had to struggle to hold the attention and actually ask for some kind of audience reaction. The Jehu Explosion played what often sounded like instrumental jams, and the few songs that they actually played that seemed complete were reminiscent of latter day Therapy? material. The band's quirky approach to stagecraft and audience interaction did make them interesting, but I preferred their frontman's more starightforward former band, Papertree.
As soon as Easyworld came onstage I knew they would be dull and unoriginal - a token female bassist, and a geeky bespectacled frontman. What they played sounded like bad Weezer covers, which, coupled with their lack of presence made Easyworld one of the worst bands I'Ve seen in the last couple of months.
Seeing that the support was so substandard I did not expect much of the headliners, but they surprised me with the vitality of their delivery and the different styles they played. Playing Indie, Grunge and Noise rock within the same set kept things interesting, even though I am not a big fan of those genres. There were even some post-hardcore style screaming vocals in the choruses of the heavier songs, adding to the surprising blend of styles. The gig was finished off in fine style with the final song degenerating into a chaotic noise jam, with the band wilfully molesting their instruments for several minutes. In the end this gig wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, with a relatively good headlining band, but I'Ve ahd far more fun for a lesser entry price down Esquires.
Russian Pete