Definitely a bit different for me this one, but 'twas a night of the bass, which can be a good thing, a very good thing.
First are Psycho Phunk Fish who would have a damn good name if it wasn't for the PH in the phunk. Anyway, vocally you've got two guys doing the old rap or hip-hop style thing. I'm sure there's an obvious difference, and those that know would know what it was they're doing. But it's not really my thing, so part of me ignored the vocals to an extent, in the same way I tend to ignore the kind of Iron Monkey style vocals on many occassions, and just let the music do the talking. And for the music was good. Mellow and laid back, the bass throbbing and being the backdrop to it all. They're joined on a couple of occassions by some lady to provide some more I guess soulful vocals and at one point Non Thespian join in with more of those hip-hop vocals. To be honest, though the band were good, they showed them up quite a bit. Apparently it's one of Jeffrey the guitarist's last shows. "He's going to live in Texas in April" being the part which gave it away, along with "it's one of Jeffrey's last shows". See, the clues are all around you. He gets some songs dedicated to him, and the last one, apparently from their first CD is way more in your face than anything else. Did I mention one of the vocalists was in a Vandals t-shirt? And there was someone in a Machine Head shirt enjoying it as well? Nice.
Unfortunately a number of people had departed before Smak Daddi came on. It's something that annoys me across the board with music. It happens of course with all styles, but that doesn't make it any less annoying. Anyway, Smak Daddi are a bit different, but still the bass is dominant. In one song the guitar definitely takes a backseat to it all, it's actually really good. There's some almost Prodigy like samples going on in there as well, they're not exactly heavy, but things veer all over the place in a number of directions. Eclectic is a word often used for this sort of thing I think. Bloody good would also suffice. Though of course it's two words not one, but hey, who's being pedantic. The vocalist announces that they've got a mini-cd for sale for a fiver, a whole 5 quid cheaper than in HMV. On first impressions, a good band, and a good evening. Not normally what I listen to perhaps, but the bass was there, and it's really quite nice to have a little bit of variety sometimes.