Ya gits. There I was, all sorted as I walked to the gig. "Rant rant rant, band on certain label = full venue, why not the same for the UK bands etc etc" and when I get there, the bloody place is nearly empty. If you listen hard you may hear the crash of me having to throw that review out of the window then. Guess that means I have to reach for a "where was everyone" type instead. Yeah, I do know, it's not always easy. I totally forgot about Gameface and Freebase playing gigs last week. But I was just so surprised that Epitaph label bands pulled such a small crowd - maybe it's because their not American Epitaph bands? Dunno.
Anyways, first on are Panic whose CD I received about a week ago and is on the currently increasing pile to be reviewed. So first impressions are going to come from the live arena so to speak. Not bad, there's nothing entirely new there, but there's an air of attitude and a whiff of older, British punk in the style and the vocals, but still tuneful in that modern way. If that makes any sense at all. I want some of what the vocalist is drinking though as when he removes the sunglasses he announces that "wow, take them off and there's 350 people here". If only. I heard one person afterwards mention how the sounded was somehow reminiscent of stuff like the Undertones or the Buzzcocks, not a bad reference to have either way.
Next were the band whose name I've now forgotten but will try to remember to look up on the flier this evening then promptly forget to update the review anyway. From France, in all honesty, they didn't really stir me. It was a bit messy, and totally unmemorable. They tried, and to an extent playing in the face of apathy must be difficult, but at the end of the day they were just another just another band - to the extent that the name didn't stick.
The Burning Heads, though not original by any stretch of the imagination were markedly better. And you've got to love a band whose guitarist can announce "we've got a song called "somthing" but we're not playing it tonight". Classic touch. What they do play is primarily a speedy melodic fairly typical sort of Epitaph style punky hardcore with a couple of ska based songs thrown in for good measure. As I said, nothing new, but entertaining enough for the duration, and to an extent that's what it's all about isn't it?