Red Light Company @ The Cluny 11/03/2009

I have to admit, I made way down to The Cluny for the Red Light Company gig with a slight sense of trepidation. After all, there are only so many times you can hear their current single ‘Arts and Crafts’ being played repeatedly on the radio before you start to develop a little bit of resentment towards a band. However, I kept reminding myself that Grammatics, a new band everyone should hear, were supporting and that some of the songs from Fine Fascination, RLC’s debut album, were actually surprisingly good, so I kept the chin up and my mind open. First support The Chevrolites were an essentially standard lad-rock band of the moment but got the crowd a little excited, and main support Grammatics more than lived up to the hype, with a display that was as alternative as it was energetic, as tantalising as it was disappointing when they eventually had to leave the stage. So the scene had been set perfectly for Red Light Company to wander on and massively disappoint, and please all those kids who are so cool they hear one song and declare them the new Razorlight or U2 with a flick of the wrist and a turned up nose. But here’s the twist, they were actually pretty damn good. They prowled round The Cluny’s infamously small stage as if they were playing to Wembley, and every song was delivered with a verve and intensity that delighted the sold out venue. Crowd favourites such as ‘Scheme Eugene’ and ‘Meccano’ shook the surrounding area, and even ‘Arts and Crafts’ was given a whole new lease of life when delivered at this level. To actually appreciate Red Light Company, they have to be seen live, where a half decent album becomes anthem after pulsating anthem. Carry on this way, and they might find themselves in those stadiums after all.

Review by Rob Sellars

Grammatics @ the Head of Steam, 26/02/08

Not knowing who the Grammatics are, but having been advised to show up at their gig I did so and had an amazing time. Their music is impressive to narrow it down to one word. It is almost hard to describe, electro mixed in with rock and classical, or something like that. The music is of the sort that you should close your eyes to and let it fully overtake you. Maybe it’s the Cello, and the amazing voice of the front man. Worrying is the skinniness of some of the band members. The fact that the bass player likes Rilo Kiley raised my sympathy for this band even more.
Two drum kits? Well that’s what Vessels had on stage, and for one song only. But that song was amazing, seen that you can do a lot more with two drum kits than with one, it was a fast song.
Then there was Sefelt, a local band that started of their set by complaining about the Taxi fare they had to pay from Gateshead to reach the Head of Steam, getting some members to complain about having to pay £5 for their ticket. The music was good but not stunning.
The first band on was weird, well that depends on the definition of weird, but still Ryoga were quite weird. The music sounded alright but well I was distracted by the member of the audience that was dancing in front of everyone and by the fact that the keyboard player had a gigantic moustache. That wasn’t all he also had a giant piercing through his nose and had three really big arrows tattooed onto his shaved head. Who wouldn’t be distracted by that?

Review by Solveig Werner