THE FINAL – Saturday night
Well, it’s been a great week for me behind the seating rake, but all good things must come to an end – and on Saturday night the biggest audience of all the four nights (as you’d imagine) gathered to watch Hikaru, SuperMassiveMonkeyMen (yes, Men not Man, despite what the compere says!) and Knuckle*Down compete for the title of Turn It Up winner.
Before we get down to business, a massive shout out to Gawaine and the MADCAP Music Project in general – this has been a great advert to the work they’re doing with young people, and I’ve been impressed most of all by the sheer variety of bands they seem to be encouraging and developing! Kudos!
HIKARU
It’s nice to be able to see Hikaru get a second bite at the cherry – tonight their sound and mix are far better than Thursday night, and you really got the full benefit of their quiet-LOUD metal dynamic. I also realise that when I praised one of their lead guitarist’s work the other night, I’d missed the fact that the other lead guitarist is every bit as good – this time he’s higher in the mix and you can hear how well he can play too. It might not be 'my kind of thing' necessarily, but Hikaru definitely deserve to be classed up there alongside any other young MK band in this genre.
Phil sez: “Solid alt-metal in the vein of System Of A Down complete with a cover of Toxicity and some stunning guitar and drum work.”
SUPERMASSIVEMONKEYMEN
It’s another casually confident set from the SuperMassiveMonkeyMen – some of the same songs from last night sound just as fresh, and there’s some new tracks thrown in too for good measure. The last song (Myles later claims many of them don't have titles??) is a doomy epic which shows another angle to them, and overall I genuinely dig their cheerful scuzz-rock sound. It’s right up my alley anyway of course, but for me – Band Of The Week.
Phil sez: “Brilliant indie rock, this is much more my thing, with great songs, some sharp guitar work and a solid rhythm section that holds it all together.”
KNUCKLE*DOWN
But really you'd have to say that the competition has saved one of the most impressive sets for last. Knuckle*Down seem to have managed to bring along the biggest fanbase, and clearly fancied their chances of winning as a consequence, which helped them. They just seemed livelier, more sure of themselves tonight – and the crowd responded. It’s a joyous, friendly rush through their songs – the singer has us in the palm of his hand, even organising a stage invasion (benevolent rather than revolutionary!). A day later, two days later and I still have their anthem “We Are Knuckle*Down” going round and round in my head.
Phil sez: “These guys really picked up their game tonight and gave us a very solid performance of their hip-hop infused alt-metal. They were definitely a crowd favourite and when the kids invaded the stage it was no surprise they ended up winning.”
RESULT:
Yes, Phil’s on the money. Knuckle*Down were the winners, and given their massive popularity on the night no-one can have any complaints. As local bands go their sound is fresh and energetic – and in their frontman they have a unique weapon. But all three bands tonight – in fact all the bands we’ve seen this week – have had something to offer, and should all be proud of themselves in their own way. I gather several of the acts already have plans to take indefinite hiatuses come the Summer when University beckons, but if they do they can go out with their heads held high. And just maybe form new bands at Uni and come back and play at MADCAP again some day! Thanks for listening.
Showing posts with label Hikaru. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hikaru. Show all posts
Monday, 26 April 2010
Friday, 23 April 2010
TURN IT UP Battle of the Bands - Heat # 2
HEAT TWO – Thursday night
The curse of the teen bands has struck again and for the second night in a row (and a third tomorrow already confirmed) one of the bands has dropped out, leaving a straight three-way dust-up between Hikaru, The Abyss and Project Wolverine. It’s immediately obvious that the audience appears to be split into two big gangs brought along by the two full bands – so which one has brought the most? Or can the acoustic stylings of Project Wolverine split the vote? Away we go!
HIKARU
In a way, Hikaru are a lot more like I was expecting the bands competing in a 14 – 19 year old Battle of the Bands to sound - I’d describe them as “metally metal”. Brilliantly, they apologise for their second vocalist’s absence – “he does the screams”. The lead vocalist does his best to make up for it though, foot up on the monitor he switches between singing and growling gutturally. But they’re good musicians into the bargain: the drummer and the lead guitarist are particularly noticeable - the rhythms are a barrage, and the widdly soloing produced by the little dude on lead is impressive. Despite the slightly muddy sound, I enjoyed the three songs, particularly the second one which contains a gothy circling riff.
Phil sez: "Dude, I totally missed them! I can't believe they started on time!"
THE ABYSS
The Abyss have a metal sound too, but it’s a more regimented yet melodic affair. Their mix seems better, their riffs heavier and more precise. I’m struggling to think which band they remind me of when on their fourth song they announce “this is our second System Of A Down cover tonight, this is Chop Suey”. Aha! Overall, their second track was their best, I don’t think that was a SOAD cover – though I did get a bit busy at the bar, so I didn’t see the whole set, just heard it. But there’s a nice balance to their loudness and quietness. Good stuff. Also, they’re all dressed in black except the guitarist on the left who clearly didn’t get the memo!
Phil sez: “Solid alterna-metal, I liked the second song best with the slightly more melodic feel that almost echoed My Bloody Valentine, and the final instrumental closer with the surfy guitar lead.”
PROJECT WOLVERINE
Regular Monkey Kettle watchers will know that we have “previous” with the fantastic Project Wolverine, so hopefully this won’t sound too biased. As if already resigned to not winning – he later told us that if he’d got through to the final he’d have struggled to book the night off work! – Proj W is relaxed enough with the audience to banter away, yet also seemingly determined to get through as many songs as he can while he’s on the stage! He manages twelve choons, easily more than the other two bands put together! Many of his classic left-leaning anthems are included, along with a Billy Bragg cover - and he’s even stuck a “Vote Labour” poster on the front monitor! But I’m really pleased to hear his newer songs also contain some even more well-turned lyrics about life and love. In fact my “Tune Of The Night” combines both: “Socialism Is For Lovers”. There’s widespread singing along from the audience, plus a philosophical discussion on the nature of Metaphor. What more could you ask? Coming soon to an Open Mic near you!!! ;-)
Phil sez: “A brilliant almost-headline set from Project Wolverine, with intelligent song writing and a confident performance he won over the crowd with his tales of teenage woe in the Mirror City. If I could choose, he'd have been the winner.”
RESULT:
I don’t think it’ll surprise you that my vote (I made sure I got a voting slip this time!) was for Project Wolverine too, but the biggest army of fans was clearly brought by Hikaru – they join Knuckle*Down in Saturday’s final. Just one slot left – who will join them?
The curse of the teen bands has struck again and for the second night in a row (and a third tomorrow already confirmed) one of the bands has dropped out, leaving a straight three-way dust-up between Hikaru, The Abyss and Project Wolverine. It’s immediately obvious that the audience appears to be split into two big gangs brought along by the two full bands – so which one has brought the most? Or can the acoustic stylings of Project Wolverine split the vote? Away we go!
HIKARU
In a way, Hikaru are a lot more like I was expecting the bands competing in a 14 – 19 year old Battle of the Bands to sound - I’d describe them as “metally metal”. Brilliantly, they apologise for their second vocalist’s absence – “he does the screams”. The lead vocalist does his best to make up for it though, foot up on the monitor he switches between singing and growling gutturally. But they’re good musicians into the bargain: the drummer and the lead guitarist are particularly noticeable - the rhythms are a barrage, and the widdly soloing produced by the little dude on lead is impressive. Despite the slightly muddy sound, I enjoyed the three songs, particularly the second one which contains a gothy circling riff.
Phil sez: "Dude, I totally missed them! I can't believe they started on time!"
THE ABYSS
The Abyss have a metal sound too, but it’s a more regimented yet melodic affair. Their mix seems better, their riffs heavier and more precise. I’m struggling to think which band they remind me of when on their fourth song they announce “this is our second System Of A Down cover tonight, this is Chop Suey”. Aha! Overall, their second track was their best, I don’t think that was a SOAD cover – though I did get a bit busy at the bar, so I didn’t see the whole set, just heard it. But there’s a nice balance to their loudness and quietness. Good stuff. Also, they’re all dressed in black except the guitarist on the left who clearly didn’t get the memo!
Phil sez: “Solid alterna-metal, I liked the second song best with the slightly more melodic feel that almost echoed My Bloody Valentine, and the final instrumental closer with the surfy guitar lead.”
PROJECT WOLVERINE
Regular Monkey Kettle watchers will know that we have “previous” with the fantastic Project Wolverine, so hopefully this won’t sound too biased. As if already resigned to not winning – he later told us that if he’d got through to the final he’d have struggled to book the night off work! – Proj W is relaxed enough with the audience to banter away, yet also seemingly determined to get through as many songs as he can while he’s on the stage! He manages twelve choons, easily more than the other two bands put together! Many of his classic left-leaning anthems are included, along with a Billy Bragg cover - and he’s even stuck a “Vote Labour” poster on the front monitor! But I’m really pleased to hear his newer songs also contain some even more well-turned lyrics about life and love. In fact my “Tune Of The Night” combines both: “Socialism Is For Lovers”. There’s widespread singing along from the audience, plus a philosophical discussion on the nature of Metaphor. What more could you ask? Coming soon to an Open Mic near you!!! ;-)
Phil sez: “A brilliant almost-headline set from Project Wolverine, with intelligent song writing and a confident performance he won over the crowd with his tales of teenage woe in the Mirror City. If I could choose, he'd have been the winner.”
RESULT:
I don’t think it’ll surprise you that my vote (I made sure I got a voting slip this time!) was for Project Wolverine too, but the biggest army of fans was clearly brought by Hikaru – they join Knuckle*Down in Saturday’s final. Just one slot left – who will join them?
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