Band 1: Flipsiders
After a very long break of around 10 years, the Flipsiders recently decided it was time to reform and start performing music again. And what a decision this was. Despite this (very) long hiatus of approximately 3650 days it appears that the band weren’t at all rusty around the edges.
The singer, Nick, had the energy of David Coverdale on speed and a very strong voice that fitted perfectly with the band. The guitarist, Sandro, was a calm player but did so with a permanent smile and the look of someone who loved what he was doing with 6 strings and no fretboard-wankery as we seem to see so often these days. These two were joined by a lively bassist and chilled drummer who, I believe, had recently joined the band.
However, despite their liveliness, they also conformed to what every blues band is required to do: perform a ballad, as they did in their fourth song. Nick managed to prove his versatility in this song as his voice went from loud and heavy in the previous tune to soft and slower in this one.
Flipsiders is a band who I found were hard to compare to anyone live. They had all the classic sounds of a rock/blues band but also their own, but that’s a good thing, right? Sadly the band doesn’t have any sort of band page or the like so it’s hard to find out where and when they’re playing, but if you see their name pop up on any of the venue pages on Facebook, go and see them.
Band 2: Me, John & the Drummer
After Flipsiders had gotten the audience into a beer-drinking blues mood, Me, John & the Drummer who describe themselves as “filthy dirty blues inspired rock’n’roll from the bowels of Soho” quickly set up their gear and started playing, managing to increase the crowd’s excitement very quickly. It was definitely a blues night. This was probably my favourite band of the night, closely followed by Flipsiders.
As a three-piece, the band worked well with John Kinsella on vocals and bass, Lewis Templeman on guitar and Joao Soares Neto on drums playing some very Southern blues in the styles of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix with maybe some Skynyrd thrown in. It could even be said that when it came to playing solos they had a slight slowed-down Satch/Vai sound going on.
John’s singing was strong with a smooth and bluesy sound that fitted right in with the music. Not as lively as Flippin’ Nick, but that didn’t matter. He did it just right with some cool bass playing behind the drums and guitar playing. This was made even better with the fifth song they played: a cover of Hendrix’s ‘Fire.’ It can sometimes be a bit risky playing covers, but MJATD proved that it can also be done well when you know what you’re doing.
After their fiery cover (sorry) the band played ‘King of this Town,’ a song that started as a light blues/lounge sounding piece but soon upped the tempo into some hard blues before dropping down again. In a similar way to covers, it can sometimes be hard to make this work, but they managed it.
A song or two and a free demo (and a free CD is a good CD) announcement later the band said their thanks and byes and finished their set, but not before chants for an encore. Sadly we weren’t treated to one which was disappointing but made up for with the free demo. Being Soho-based I’m guessing (and hoping) MJATD play a lot of local gigs so expect more reviews of this band.
Band 3: MUD: The Far Curse
MUD: TFC is a band which on this occasion I find hard to review here due to a number of problems experienced throughout the set. Speaking with the band afterwards I was told that this was due to damaged amps meaning they had to borrow a tube amp from one of the previous bands, wrong/badly chosen line-up (blues and metal don’t really mix), no sound check and a hired sound guy who I noticed spent his time behind the mixer rolling cigarettes.
Despite the problems, the band wasn’t bad and could be compared to Foo Fighters, Prong, Pearl Jam and even a little Floyd-y in parts. There was even one song I thought sounded somewhat like early Mayhem or Darkthrone. I also noticed/heard that the band liked to have some fun with feedback at the end of most of their songs along with frequent tapping and the odd 5-string bass outro.
As much as I like heavy music I found there to be too much of a contrast between MUD and the two other bands, and it looked like the audience may feel the same. However, when talking with the band it was agreed that, as previously mentioned, it wasn’t the best chosen line-up and the audience were there for blues rather than metal.
Due to the problems that occurred I’m not going to say this was a bad band, I’m sure they’re not and I’ll give them another chance, but tonight just wasn’t the right night sadly.
Pete Kent Official 