Appleseed Cast / Sometree

Derby Victoria Inn

June 16 2001


Not actually heard anything by these bands, but I was under the impression that Kids Near Water (whom I've not heard anything by either but wanted to see) were playing. They may well have been, but I got there just as Sometree were about to start, and so may have missed them. Which is my fault and I've got no-one else to blame.

It's been a while since I've seen one of these sceney gigs, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised / shocked by the turnout. Pretty full, a good 70 or more people whereas my pessimism was anticipating 30 or 40. Especially as Reel Big Fish were playing Rock City, which I thought may have caught a few people from here. Fish / caught. Ack, please yourself.

As they warmed up, I had a bad feeling that Sometree were going to be really drippy bad emo. You know the sort of thing that straddles being MOR / AOR. Lets face it, there's some stuff that is peddled that wouldn't be out of place if Bryan Adams of Bon Jovi played it - though of course it would be laughed out of the building and pissed on. But adopt the right posture and attitude and you can get away with it. Fortunately my apprehension was once again misguided, and they were actually quite superb. There's nothing new in there, like the Jade Tree style offerings, and this should be up your street. What set it apart, was although there was some of the typical song structures - chimy chords building up to a cruscendo, there was also some other more diverse offerings, more interesting chords and riffs. The bass was driving things nicely, and although the vocals were fairly typical of this style, they weren't offensive or distracting (or too whiny). They suffer a few technical difficulties, breaking strings, retuning, but overall, it was rather excellent. Spoilt by playing the last song, which required a lenghty tuning break, had the guitarist / vocalist retuning again during the song, and was a bit of a mess and mishmash of ideas. One song to long, but hey. If I'd had enough money with me, I'd have bought a CD at the end of the gig. Now the test as to how good they really were comes if I see it in a shop. There's such a long list of bands that impress in the live situation but that I never get round to buying anything by. It's possible that Sometree will end up in that category. But for the moment there and then, excellent.

Appleseed Cast is a name I've heard, but not heard anything by. After Sometree, they were ok, but not outstanding. Again, it's that kind of you know what you're getting after the first song type of thing. Melodic and mature, the crowd seem to appreciate them. The vocalist doesn't really say anything, but the other guitarist makes up for it, thanking people "we're just 4 guys from Kansas City. DO you say Darby or Derby? We're American's we don't know. Look who we've got running our country. Actually I didn't vote, I know it's wrong. America's a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there." At this point in time I wouldn't say that. The desire to just pack up, try and get a job and move to America is so high on the list of things to do, there's nothing really for me in Britain. Just wish I had the courage to see through some of my convictions. But that's another story. They fight the good old British curfew - it's a Saturday night, so you really must be finished by 11. After all, untold horrors could unfold if people are allowed to live past midnight. Sorry, it's difficult to come up with anything meaningful to say. I'm not an expert or avid fan of this type of music, and after a while, it becomes the same and my thoughts dry up. They were good, Sometree kind of stole the honours from them though.