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T&D Bigger Band - Hillingdon
T&D Bigger Band - Hillingdon
Gig Guide
Friday July 30th
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· Refuel: The Exclamations! and friends
· Captain Cook Tavern: MISTRESS
· Isis Lounge: Oxo Cubans Party Night
· Chicks Hotel: The Puddle
· Cellars Bar -Provincial Hotel: Katharticus in the Cellar
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Brains, Knives At Noon, Clap Clap Riot - Refuel 15/8/09
26 August, 2009Page 1
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Brains were on first. I don’t know whether I warmed to them or not, all I know is that they were playing really loud and really heavy rock. I think they were spawned a while back (nine months ago so I heard) out of the influence of the Radio One. I believe one of the players, the bass player, is a DJ for the student radio station.
Sounds like something remotely grunge about them, almost punk. There is a very rough untamed rage edge to their sound. They build on an almost psychedelic tinge to their music, drawing upon such styles as those of Die! Die! Die! etc. By the time they were about halfway through their set there was roughly 80 people there all together in the crowd. They had a fairly short set, so it could be called a short sharp invective of angst and punk/grunge and then snuffed out, as it were. The verdict is still out on Brains though.
I have spoken at large before on the subject of Knives at Noon and the music they play. Apparently somewhat worse for wear with tiredness etc after driving back from a gig in Christchurch the day before, they certainly didn’t let that show in their set.
After about ten minutes Tim Couch was drumming with his shirt off and they were into their stride, as it were. Having for so long only heard recordings of them, it was good to hear the real thing for the first time in a while. There was a good raw live edge to their set and they did a good job of getting the dance floor up and grooving. Although I must say whoever was sitting on the strobe button but they should have got off it and not just been totally amazed by it because during most of Knives at Noon’s set you couldn’t really see the band, just this searing white light. Now I know that strobe lights produce a certain effect in certain ways for certain reasons and circumstances, but you don’t really what to give anyone in the audience a seizure, you know?
Clap Clap Riot seem to be by all accounts one of the bands leading a current wave of young indie rock. Made up of Stephen Heard (lead vocals, guitar), Sam Mountain (drums, backing vocals), Dave Rowlands (guitar) and Tristan Colenso (bass), they emerged as winners of the MTV Kick Start Your Career competition and were apparently formerly known as Band Theft Auto.
A very vigorous and excitable young bunch, they have been touted as the “next generation in New Zealand rock.”
If I was to name drop they sound a bit like The Checks, Luger Boa and The Naked and Famous but it is their sheer youthful enthusiasm that impresses. They seem to be doing the right thing, garnering media attention and really making a name for themselves. In the midst of their nationwide tour, they produced some nice edgy stuff. Good on them.
AK
Posted by scott
