Massive apologies for the late run on this… I have loads of excuses but you don’t care!

Here’s a smashing pile of photos from Rob Burns. Rob is a Doncaster native and can be found by clicking just about here.

Rob will be heading out to Doncaster Live again this year to catch some of the sights and sounds that Doncaster’s free music festival has to offer so we shall keep you posted…

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Photos by Jamie Bubb. Check out Jamie Bubb’s portfolio at JamieBubb.com

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Photos by Rob Burns

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So… the plan was to review the band on tonight’s performance, putting aside any preconceptions… however, when a band launch onto the stage and tear into “You Love Us” the history of this outspoken band all comes rushing back. It takes some serious attitude to carry off an opener like that and MSP manage this with total disregard for any opinion you may have had of them.

It’s difficult not to get caught up in the wave of love for this band being generated by the devotees filling the O2 Academy tonight – they believe, and you start to question if you should too?

From You Love Us, MSP went head long into Your Love Alone Is Not Enough and then ripped through their comprehensive catalogue in two-song bursts.

Motorcycle Emptiness sees the crowd again unite in religious chorus – Slash-esque riffs cutting through what must be one of the finest rock vocals of a generation. James Dean Bradfield is in fine voice and fine form. New single It’s not war… shows off the maturity of song-writing in contrast to the Generation Terrorist riffing but you soon start to notice the void presence that backing track string sections leave. In some cases it seemed an age between the swathes of strings starting and the band participating. The sound is pretty good although the drums sounded a little flat and didn’t cut through JDB’s heavy riffage.

A flurry of songs follow, highlights including This is Yesterday, Tsunami and the rabble-rousing Motown Junk dedicated to “the legend of Richy Edwards”. The early songs are played with such urgency they are in clear contrast with the mellower newer material. Nicky Wire recalls Sheffield having some amazing memories for the band, Richy disappearing for hours on end and returning with amazing tattoos before the show…

Little Baby Nothing and You Stole The Sun From My Heart see JDB solo and acoustic – more of Bradfield’s solo efforts should take this acoustic style, his voice is better than being lost amongst strings and keyboards. The quiet is very quickly shattered with the opening riff of Faster, an absolute screaming return for the whole band. There’s a marked sobering moment as the band play Suicide is Painless - a song that sounds every bit as if it was written for them, fitting perfectly in their set tonight.

“James Dean Bradfield is an amazing guitarist but sometimes he also writes great lyrics too” shouts Nicky before JDB lead them into Ocean Spray before closer Design For Life lifts the crowd for a final time.

No encore, no apologies. The point is, they don’t give a f*ck what you think – they don’t care if you ‘prefer the earlier stuff’ or hate their politics – they aren’t paying attention and it makes a perfect antidote for the bed wetting indie-kids of recent years.

Photos by Rob Burns

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Setlist – 6 October 2010

You Love Us
Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
Motorcycle Emptiness
It’s Not War (Just The End Of Love)
Peeled Apples
Roses In The Hospital
Postcards From A Young Man
This Is Yesterday
Everything Must Go
Autumnsong
Some Kind Of Nothingness
Tsunami
Motown Junk
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
Little Baby Nothing (acoustic)
You Stole The Sun From My Heart (acoustic)
Faster
Empty Souls
Golden Platitudes
Suicide is Painless (Theme from M*A*S*H)
Sleepflower
Ocean Spray
A Design For Life

Stuart McLamb

The Love Language
Nightlight
Chapel Hill, NC
April 17, 2010

A lot of buzz has been following the Love Language ever since the undeniably catchy “Lalita” hit the internet. It was just a few summers ago that frontman Stuart McLamb was living with his parents, suffering through an all-time low and finding an escape through a four-track machine in a rented storage room. (At least that’s the story that he’s been tellin’). A messy breakup, a great songwriter, and a little luck can go a long way these days. Demos of what would become the self-titled debut album made their way into the a small independent record store in the beach town of Wilmington, NC and it was here that an “executive” at Portland’s Bladen County Records heard it playing over the stereo. Bladen County would eventually release the arresting debut album by The Love Language. Meanwhile, a live 7 piece band consisting of close friends and Stu’s brother was quickly thrown together.

Having seen the original lineup, which had a magical on-stage chemistry, 7 times over the past year and a half, I was a little concerned that Stu wouldn’t be able to capture lightning in a bottle twice. Well, I’m very happy to report, in all honesty, that he did.

The Love Language

They opened with “Blue Angel”, a beautiful song off the forthcoming record that has a bit of a waltz to it. After replacing the snare that couldn’t even make it through the opener, Jordan counted off the fastest and most energetic “Providence” I’ve ever seen. At this point, it was clear that everything was going to better than fine since this might just be my favorite Love Language song, and they killed it. The bluesy ballad that is “This Blood Is Our Own” allowed the packed and sweaty crowd to catch their breath and sway collectively. Another breezy tune called “Anthophobia” on the setlist followed, but this one was new to me. This one has a summer beach feel, and it very well could have been written at the beach last summer since he was in Wilmington then. They pick the energy level way up with the psychedelic pop of “Sparxxx” which features some of the most powerful wailing you’ll ever hear, courtesy of Stu’s golden pipes. The anguish of the breakup can be felt in “Stars” and many couldn’t help but join in on the chorus. Stu’s first collaboration with BJ Burton occurred on the next song, “Horophones”, which was originally released on the excellent compilation of Triangle bands titled Hear Here.

And finally, 8 songs deep into the set, they break out “Lalita”, the infectious breakup song that started all the buzz on the internet last year. This song will never fail to disappoint. More times than not, Missy Thangs gets possessed by the beat and takes her tambourine into the crowd as she did tonight, as if there’s no way the stage could possibly be a big enough to contain the energy of the song. “Nocturne” and the 60’s infused and very danceable “Brittany’s Back” followed and here’s the video evidence:

The 45 minute set concluded with the upbeat “Heart to Tell”, the lead single off of Libraries. This was the first time I’d seen this song live and it’s an easy choice as the first single. After a few minutes off the “stage”, which meant chatting with close friends at the bar, they came back on to do a cover of Fats Domino’s boogie “The Fat Man” and closed out the show with an even higher energy song from the new album titled “This Room”. You can watch the encore here:

The Love Language

Stuart was feeling the love from the audience all night and to reciprocate he offered free shots to anyone and everyone as he left the small stage at the Nightlight. In many ways, this felt like a celebration of the signing to Merge Records and a homecoming. Up until last winter, Stu was living in the Carrboro/Chapel Hill area. But after signing to Merge, recording the new album with BJ Burton at Flying Tiger Studios made the move to Raleigh a must. With a lot of familiar faces in the crowd in about as intimate of an art space as you can get in the Nightlight, it seemed more like a party (and in fact, it was something of a birthday party for a friend) than a show. There’s no doubt in my mind that The Love Language is going to become a national act with the summer release of the new album, and many new fans will stumble upon a gem when they dig into the back catalog. But for now, Stu and The Love Language are still very much a part of the local music community and I think shows like this will always remind him and the rest of us how lucky we are to call this home. As for fans of the original lineup, this is a win-win because the new lineup is fantastic AND we now have The Light Pines to give us even more of the psychedelic pop that you crave.

Eric Chen

Click here to download the lead single “Heart to Tell”

Setlist:

Blue Angel
Providence
This Blood Is Our Own
Anthophobia
Sparxxx
Stars
Horophones
Lalita
Nocturne
Brittany’s Back
Heart to Tell
Fat Man
This Room

Returning to the UK for the second time in twelve months, Dinosaur jr take their ninth studio album ‘Farm’ on the road again – this time bringing some old friends in the form of the legendary Built to Spill.

Doug Martsch – Built to Spill

Built to Spill are highly regarded by almost all indie-rock fans and peers alike – their skillfully sculptured guitar noise is embedded in the psyche and its influence can be found in many contemporary bands. Tonight they look every bit the aged-rockers you would expect, fantastically un-touched by modern life.

The first twenty minutes of Built to Spill’s set tonight is forgettable – mainly because I missed the first twenty minutes… (who puts on a grown-up rock show at 7:30!?) – however, walking in to a swathe of orchestrated feedback is a joy. Watching a band so content in themselves is really soothing and the crowd stand in respectful silence at the alter of BTS. As you would expect, a mixture of old classics and tracks from their latest record “There is no enemy” get an outing tonight but “Car” is the song that we’ve been waiting for and it hasn’t aged a bit.

Heading to the bar in the interval I was greeted by a polite lady seemingly asking me for £3.60 for a pint of lager in a plastic ‘glass’… She didn’t even apologise.

J Mascis appears to be intent on deafening the whole of West Yorkshire tonight with 26 twelve-inch speakers and 4 amplifiers (that I could see) pointed threateningly at the assembled. They stroll on stage and without saying a word or a tentative tune-up launch into the guitar soaked indie rock we have come to expect. Although Lou Barlow made a few brief comments and thank-yous it was essentially a back-to-back wall of songs from start to finish, just as it should be. Classics like “Freak Scene” , “Out There” , “The Wagon” and a careful selection of tracks from their two latest records were played with a ferocity that many current bands half their age would give their unlaced plimsolls for…

Dinosaur jr

Mid-set, Barlow takes a moment to announce that the long time band member Murph has been taken ill and to make his replacement feel welcome. Although he didn’t hit as hard as Murph he was tight and an impressive last minute replacement… (anyone know who he was?)

Ears ringing, I left content, as drunk as I could afford and with a feeling of sweet nostalgia. It seems Dinosaur jr can do no wrong. Still riding high on their victorious return they are still turning out the best ear splitting indie rock money can buy and with the average age of the first ten rows under 25 it’s clearly not just nostalgia that is filling the venue tonight.

Rob Che

Built to Spill official site

Dinosaur jr official site

The Kissaway Trail / The Temper Trap
Cat’s Cradle
Carrboro/Chapel Hill, NC
4/8/10

The Kissaway Trail

The Kissaway Trail opened the show on a perfect spring night in North Carolina to a fairly packed Cradle. While it would later become apparent that most of the people got there early to get a good spot for the headliner, this 6 piece band from Denmark won most of the crowd over early with their energetic and infectious brand of indie rock. I knew next to nothing about the band, and visited their myspace just a little earlier in the day once I decided to go to the show. I listened to one song, “SDP”, and thought it was pretty good, but not necessarily anything unique or great. However, even from waiting outside in the cue to get in, I could tell this band had a great live sound.

As is the case with many of my favorite bands, it’s hard to place my finger on what makes them so great. Their songs are fairly straightforward and rockin’. The rhythm section propels in a manner that gives most of their songs an anthemic feel. They throw in splashes of melodic synth to give tunes a danceable quality. You can feel some of the heartbreak in the quaver of the lead vocals which draws in the sympathetic listener (and probably acts to repel some). And while the songs are fairly straightforward and don’t have many changes, they do tend to build up to a climax where frustrations are released and catharsis is reached through the banging away of instruments and soaring vocals.

The Kissaway Trail

The energy they put into playing was a reflection of how much these songs meant to them and this outward display won over much of the audience who were probably as uninitiated as I was. While some bands will try to win over a new crowd with banter or overdramatic playing or shoegazing indifference, other bands just have “it”. If you’ve ever seen Hammer No More the Fingers or the Love Language, you’ll know what I mean. You get the sense that these guys would bring the same joyous energy just playing in their living room and that there’s really nothing else that they’d rather be doing.

In the 40+ minute set, they covered a decent range of emotions, tempos, and songs, including a brilliant take on Neil Young’s “Philadelphia” (which can be found on their new full-length album Sleep Mountain). Had they not prefaced that it was a cover song, no one would’ve known because they made it their own in all the right ways. This is saying a lot because the original is one of the most haunting and arresting songs by one of the all-time greats. The Kissaway Trail definitely have their own sound, but it’s a mix of a lot of familiar sounds: some parts 80s, a general Brit-pop vibe, and the sonic depth of your favorite post rock. Needless to say, they left quite an impression on someone who went in with no expectations. I left the show with their new album Sleep Mountain and have given it a few spins. It does a great job of capturing the energy of their live performances and getting the most out of these emotionally-charged anthems. This will definitely make my best of 2010 list.

Setlist:
Friendly Fire
Beat Your Heartbeat
New Lipstick
Philadelphia (Neil Young cover, appeared in the movie Philadelphia)
Smother+Evil=Hurt
61
SDP

The Kissaway Trail – official site

The Temper Trap>

The Temper Trap

Even though The Kissaway Trail won over a lot of fans with their set, it was clear that many were there just to see The Temper Trap. From the second they took the stage, the crowd of 500 or so (very impressive considering it was a Thursday night and their first time in North Carolina) in the palm of their hands. It was pretty clear that they set up the stage to put the focus on frontman Dougy Mandagi. There’s also no questioning his vocal prowess on stage. His songs tend to have memorable hooks and he demonstrates good versatility as a songwriter, although most of his songs are co-written with other band member(s). He certainly puts everything he has into belting out the vocals and the sound is mixed to highlight his powerful voice. It’s a bit unusual for indie rock bands to be so vocal-centric and it’s difficult to pull off, but Dougy seems genuine enough in his delivery and just flat-out gifted that it really works with the audience. Also, it should be mentioned that this crowd was a little more on the mainstream side than the indie side, perhaps due to the band’s single being featured in the movie 500 Days of Summer. (Admittedly, this is how I found out about the band.)

The Temper Trap>

In any case, the band was energetic and powerful, even if they seemed more like a backing band for Dougy. This was all more evident when Dougy was the only one out signing merch after the show. With only one album to play songs from, they tore through most of the songs off the album and had a lot of the crowd mouthing the words to most of them. “Sweet Disposition” got a huge response and rightfully so, but their set had a great flow and there weren’t any lulls in the set. They seemed to stretch most of the songs out a little more and used some really great transitions to keep the audience captivated. At times, they create an almost disorienting wall of sound with their 3 guitars and the rhythm section as in “Resurrection”(link to video) and “Science of Fear”(link to video), but they also produce some beautiful atmospherics with in “Fools”(link to video) and “Soldier On”(link to video). They closed the set with an extended, 9 minute version of “Resurrection” which included Dougy trading his guitar for a drumkit midway through the song and some unexpected pyrotechnics (see the video) that had the crowd going wild until they reappeared for the encore. They opened the encore with a new slower song “Rabbit Hole” which had a very mid-90s Radiohead vibe to it. This song starts with just Dougy on acoustic guitar and vocals, drums come in later, and a jutting guitar line joins to build up to the song’s climax. They closed the show much the same way they opened, with a really loud and rockin “Science of Fear”.

The Temper Trap definitely put on a great show and they have a bright future as they straddle the line between indie and mainstream rock. Unlike The Kissaway Trail who have a common sound in their songs, Temper Trap appear to still be searching for their own sound. At times they sound like Coldplay, Arcade Fire, U2, etc., but the songwriting is strong and they have plenty of time to find their own voice. Fortunately for them, they’ve got a charismatic frontman with a killer voice to help them find it.

Setlist:
Instrumental Intro
Rest
Fader
Fools
Down River
Love Lost
Soldier of Fear
Sweet Disposition
Resurrection
Encore:
Rabbit Hole
Science of Fear

The Temper Trap – official site

On Saturday evening, The Cribs played The Dome in Doncaster promoting their, ironically titled, Ignore the Ignorant album. Support bands for the tour were chosen by the band and on Saturday night featured Los Campesinos and 70s punk icons The Slits.

Support bands with touring bands are often just label-mate-contractually-obliged pairings rather than considered partnerships; thankfully Los Campesinos fall into the latter camp and the assembled gang of music fans (I use that term loosely) seemed to buy into the indie rockings. It was good to see that all the hype this band received was actually deserved and they delivered a set as energetic as a puppy full of Mountain Dew… The British Arcade Fire? The best sound of the entire night was wrung from the neck of a fine vintage SG of the Camp’s guitarist though I think their version of Pavement’s ‘Box Elder’ may have been lost on 99% of tonight’s crowd. A great start to the night.

Within moments of The Slits taking the stage the mood quickly swings into the realms of uneasy before plummeting, within 4 bars of dub bass, into a full on attack of the band. First with ‘boos’ and chants of “OFF! OFF! OFF!” before physical attacks on the band begin, with bottles and glasses (albeit plastic) and even coins being thrown at the band on stage.

The Slits handle it with an estrogen fueled counter attack; “You guys need fucking educating, we invented this shit!”. This seemed to simply fan the flames and the attacks continued for the entire set. Some members of the crowd did what they could to cheer over the jeers in an attempt to quench the mood but The Slits set really suffered at the hands of the assembled gang. The band handled the situation with humour and retaliation in equal measure and could at least leave the stage knowing that, by finishing their set, they had not surrendered to the assembled hooligans.

The Cribs are known for a ferocious live performance but tonight seemed to have an added dose of vigour and unsurprisingly they berated anyone who took part in the attack against the Slits calling that “anyone who was involved in that situation shouldn’t bother calling themselves Cribs fans… we don’t need you”…

Statement from TheCribs.com:
“Just thought that we should write something about the Doncaster show last night.
Firstly, it’s pretty obvious that this band were disgusted by the way that a certain minority treated The Slits during their set. Despite putting on an amazing, powerful performance the night was marred from this point onwards by a handful of people throwing coins, beer and generally putting on a disgustingly chauvinistic display of small mindedness.
As we said from the stage last night, it reminded us of when we were opening for the Sex Pistols in Brixton a couple of years ago and we remember being really quite pissed off that the audience were too close minded to really give us a chance, so imagine how bad we felt when a band we have a lot of respect for and invited to play with us were treated in a similar way. The thing that bothered us most is that this reception can’t possibly have been anything to do with the music. Also, just to make it clear, these people didn’t bother or upset The Slits in any way AT ALL. They played on, and the show of unity from the rest of the bands on the bill, as well as the way The Slits carried themselves was not only a moral victory but also pretty moving. The only people these idiots upset or bothered was this band, The Cribs – and their real fans who had to tolerate being represented by the dick heads with the loudest mouths. It was so cowardly.
We were in 2 minds about what to do during their set, do we pull the show? No, that would be letting them win and making the night all about their behaviour. So we played.
We’ve never played in Doncaster before and we have to admit that we had been looking forward to this show maybe more than any other in our 6 years of touring, to be playing what is essentially our local arena was something that I was really excited about. I guess that when you play shows of this size you have to come to terms with the fact that you will have some people in there that have views that are way out of line to yours but it still takes you by surprise when it happens.
As we said earlier, I know it was just a small minority. We have met our fans all over the world and know that our fans are some of the best you could hope for, we’re not stupid enough to tar everyone with the same brush because of a few bad apples. We’re just disappointed that Yorkshire was represented so poorly last night to so many people. 3 of us grew up in Yorkshire and know that we are better than that. To our real fans, thanks so much for helping us salvage something from the gig, our show lived up to the aspirations we had for it, but there is no way that we can let these things pass unmentioned.
As Ari Up said “educate the person next to you”. To those who would rather treat our (or any bands) show as an excuse to indulge your testosterone – leave us the fuck alone – we have no place for you here.

The Cribs“

Well well well… It seemed a long time in coming and then… BLAM! It was gone… but what an amazing night!

After five bands, two DJs, 50 free CDs, 250 stickers and countless horrific scenes later the Destroy before Reading Hallowe’en extravaganza came to a close… Firstly, thanks! It was very busy, people were awesome to each other…

First up, on the four-band bill downstairs, were Airburst – mixing 90s grunge, 70′s groove with an alt.rock lilt to their gait they made for a perfect opener. Airburst are clearly tuned in to each others rock frequencies with each never looking for a reassuring look from another band member – and more importantly never apologising. Heads down. Horns up. If pushed, I guess you could say that the Yorkshire boys could appear dated but I think it is just testament to their approach to music and their far-reaching influences. Kings of Leon they aint and all the better for it.

Next in the saddle are SkullBone, voodoo make up ‘an all. SB rarely play so it is not a complete surprise the set is not as tight as it could be, with false starts and the odd stop for tuning – Rob even ran backstage at one point as he had forgotten to bring his guitar slide with him! It rally didn’t matter though as the crowd were on their side and their set of stripped down, ear-splitting, country-core went down like warm blood.

The unassuming acoustic guitar set of Californian Jake La Botz takes the stage (floor?) and quickly draws people in from upstairs – his blend of traditional country-blues has a real, whiskey soaked, street hardened edge to it and makes a real impression on the Rockbar crowd. This boy can holla! “Hey… it’s a full moon outside and this song tells the story of the howling wolf… hhhoooowwwwlllllllll!!!!!!” laughed Jake who quickly turned the crowd on to his bluesey drawl. California to Doncaster is a long way to come for a half hour set but I’m sure he’ll be welcomed back in a hurry should he be passing through again.

The night is now in full swing… the sounds of the 50s and 60s are wafting down from “Night of the swinging dead” under way in the upstairs bar…

OFM are drunk. Really drunk. It’s Ben’s (vocals) birthday today and he has consumed lord knows bottles of Newcastle’s finest export. We are all unsure at this stage if this set will actually happen at all…

Thankfully, the band are used to alchohol-induced obstacles and they launch into a set of their trademark alt-rock popness without hesitation. The songs written for their, as yet unreleased, second album sound great and it is testament to the quality of the tunes that, even played as loosely as they are tonight, sound every bit the hit factory that they do on record.

Once the downstairs bands had cleared, the party continues upstairs at Swingers… The five pieces of the Black Lightnings are crammed in a corner, pushed for time (aiming for a midnight start) and receiving little help from the aggressive bar manager – but eventually, after much pushing and shoving, get set up and ready to play. Rock n Roll covers are the order of the day and is perfect end to the night.

This is a band with people who play proper instruments, sax, guitar, drums (well, not all proper instruments obviously), upright bass and piano and make a rousing noise. Furious foot-tapping ensues.

Thanks to those who played a part.

GALLERY

Some photos stolen without permission from Nichola Stephenson’s Facebook. Thanks

I’ve decided to go into Doncaster town centre. On race night. I alight the bus from outside my flat at 7.30pm, having taken in sustenance in the form of two cans of lager, are we allowed product placement in reviews? It was Carling, not as pleasant a beverage as Kronenbourg, but it provides the necessary lubrication for my impending journey. The first few stops are incident-free, but alas, all this changes when we get outside the Dome. Three broads, of advancing years, totter onto the bus with all the grace of a dying wildebeest. All mutton dressed as lamb, the wrong side of ten stone and clearly well over their quota of racecourse campari and soda for the day. One of them offers the driver sexual favours instead of the one pound and eighty pence! At these sorts of prices, it’s a wonder any of the ‘established’ prostitutes in Doncaster are getting a look in!

Having avoided eye contact with any of these ‘women’ I get off the bus in town and begin the short walk over to the Priory, where I’m meeting Daniel at 8pm. Doncaster is packed. In the five minutes it takes me to get to the venue I encounter some unbelievable things, including, but certainly not limited to: Two people urinating in the street, one of which was a woman, a young charge atop a phone box bellowing obscenities at startled passers-by, and two of our towns licensed doorman indulging in what I believe used to be known at school, as a ‘dead-arm competition.’

As you can imagine, I am relieved when I get into the Priory and downstairs, where I purchase a pint of lager for two pounds ninety. After that journey I just do now care about the ridiculous overpricing. Having met Daniel the first act is on the stage (btw when did the barriers get moved? A splendid idea ). This young lady (Sarah Mac I presume?) with the strikingly blonde hair is belting out a few tunes at a keyboard, which are inoffensive, well crafted and tuneful , and seem to go down well with the crowd, which in number is pretty good for the first act on. I remember one of the tunes sticking in my head for a bit (admittedly it’s gone now but as the night went on I got gradually more drunk), and she seemed to interact well with the crowd, displaying a confidence which was reflected in her performance.

Now the next act on did something to me which very few bands do, especially now I’m older and mellow. They made me angry. Now I’m quite an advocate of the school of thought that music should be an art form , no real purpose apart from itself, merely an outlet for a persons expression. I do not know why these people are allowed access to guitars. Quite honestly, the worst band I have seen in a very, very long time. The singer looked like a line-dancing lesbian (despite being male) and the din they made sounded like sixth formers jamming in their dinner break. When the singer and guitarist broke into a rehearsed dance routine I had to go outside for fresh air. I could wax lyrical for many pages about why this band should never be allowed to play gigs again, but quite frankly, it is a waste of my time and yours, dear reader. I am not sure what they were called, so I have deliberately avoided naming them, in order to not embarrass the other band who could be confused with them!

Once I have sufficiently calmed down, we come in to watch Airburst. Wow. They were impressive enough the last time I saw them in Retford, but the improvement is immediately recognizable as soon as they are four bars into the gig. Playing with a joyous confidence, it is obvious that they are extremely well-practised, each has faith in the others ability to get the job done, which they do with some aplomb. The drumming is frenzied yet tight, the bass drives like bass should, and the faultless guitar never fails to amaze. The crowd is sparse, and it is to Airburst’ great credit that it didn’t affect their performance one iota, they may as well have been on stage at the Leadmill. On this performance, it won’t be long before they are gracing stages much more prestigious than the Priory. As Daniel said in an earlier post, one of the best gigs in Doncaster.

By this point in the evening I am tipsy to the say the least, I apologize for missing Girlspit, I have heard many good things about them, and I will endeavour to catch them live in the near future. We wander down to the Vintage Rockbar where Milli and Guy indulge us with some requests which we drunkenly boogie and sing along too. At half past twelve I decide enough’s enough, I’m running the line at kiddies football in the morning, it doesn’t look good to be throwing up on the touch line at 9.30am!

Many thanks
James x

When it comes to live performances Sheffield’s Skeletons and the Empty Pockets simply ooze appeal. Strutting onstage, the former thisGIRL group instantly injects 10,000 volts into the building, leaving the hairs on the back of your neck not only raised but singed to the bone. While lead singer Liam waltzes through the crowd flashing a dazzling smile and jazz hands at unsuspecting spectators, the band’s dirty blues rattles the ceiling with delight.

Single ‘Oh Brother Oh Sister’ is an alternative gem, building into an inevitable chart smash, while ‘Pack That Suitcase’ leaves us in awe as the heavy rock riffs and honky tonk piano engulfs the venue. Then as Liam leaps to the ceiling rushing through the audience it’s clear Skeletons are the dirtiest, meanest group in the North, giving a stab of electricity to the brain that not even they can extinguish.

Ruth Offord

An oldie but a goodie from Reading 2008…

… but is this criticism justified? Is the event worthwhile? Well, according to the reviews we’ve heard from people ‘down the front’ the answer was a resounding yes!

DbR spoke to one sceptic (Robin Burns) after a day watching what Doncaster Live had to offer…

“First things first, I had to swallow some humble pie today as I enjoyed the day much more than I expected… Throughout the course of the day I managed to see Liam Brown and the Triumphs, In Fear of Olive, Eureka Machines, Go Audio, The Magic Numbers, The thieves, Winterman and Stanton…”

What were you opinions on the bands you saw?

Liam Brown: enjoyable and very easy listening fun sounds, with saxophones keyboard and lots of different percussion they were great entertainment and extremely tight as well…
In Fear of Olive: sounded great I just cant help but not like them even though they are very good at what they do, its just not for me… in fact, the phrase ‘trying too hard’ comes to mind.
Eureka Machines: in my opinion were the first big sound of the day and even though the looks were a tad puzzling churned through a great set with some good hard guitars in there – I liked!
Go Audio were the younger crowds favs, I guess some mixtures in the new main stream style they seem to have adopted since they have re-formed, lots of bass in some of the songs sounded good and they were actually quite catchy they seemed to enjoy the fact that there was a police presence (?)
The Magic Numbers: were ace – what more can you say this was a real good booking and despite the rain were quality it was good seeing a mix of all ages down at the front whoever booked them should take a big pat on the back.

I then headed over to the VIntage Rock Bar. The Rockbar was packed as I sloped off to take in the Thieves who rattled through there set with speed… I had planned to see Tom Hingley but old age had started to kick in and I was still soaked to the bone so after watching the genius guitarist Winterman Stanton I left for home

All in all the day for me had been quite a surprise to what i had seen on paper, I for one can eat my words as I believe all artistes that performed and I had seen had been very accomplished and entertaining. I guess its early days but i think that there has to be a fight for the right to have another Doncaster Festival very quickly MAYOR WATCH OUT!

Cheers Robin!

Check out Rob’s shots from the day below… Check out Rob’s flickr page here…

Friday March 20th
The Priory ~ Doncaster

It seems a lifetime ago that I first saw OFM play; It was at Spider’s Web in Doncaster and they totally blew me away. At the time it was bigger-is-better mentality, bands were doing everything in their power to split the eardrums of their audiences and being as outrageous as possible – add to that the fact that this was a battle of the bands, and it seems even stranger that OFM were singing pop songs!

Since that introduction to OFM I’ve been witness to many shows since but they’ve never lived up to that first encounter. Until tonight. OFM take the stage, “If we appear to be drunk… there’s a very good reason for that”. OFM do not have tight jeans, (heaven forbid!) they do not have the ‘hair’, they do not subscribe to any current ‘trend’ or ‘scene’ and it is so refreshing to see.

During the first chords of Industry, it is glaringly obvious that OFM are an accomplished gang of musicians; gang is an important word here, it’s always gutting to see four people on stage that you know won’t even share a beer after the gig – OFM won’t be that band, OFM will be tearing a crate apart in 40 minutes time.

I’ll get the obvious references out of the way; Pavement, Matador Records, Weezer, Guided by Voices etc. They do still have the college alt-rock style that they’ve always had but they now have much more than that with elements of classic British pop creeping in, The Kinks, Roxy Music, with Squeeze being the most obvious. Songs like ‘Incredible Moves and Combinations’ highlight what well-crafted songs OFM are now capable of – gone are the obvious 4/4 indie choruses, instead replaced with complex layered harmonies and complementary dual guitar frettery. This takes UK songwriting full circle as I’m sure that these same groups from the 60s/70s had a big influence on the US alt-rock fraternity.

Tonight’s short, six song set (5 bands as part of Doncaster Music Week’s Raw Talent ‘showcase’) is made up of primarily new material; new material from their recent 19 (yes, nineteen) track session for a forthcoming double album. The album was the last offering from Darren Feris at Analogue Recordings and finished and mixed at Higher Rhythm. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing this and it is sickening that a band can write that many songs that are so consistently good!

OFM are great tonight – OK, they’re drunk – but not many bands can have that much fun with their friends and play their songs that well sober, never mind the level of lubrication we are witness to here. John Fell joins them on guitar for a song as, by their own admission, they’d added so much to some songs during the recording they needed extra members to do them justice! The songs tonight could be criticised for lacking the urgency of earlier incarnations but OFM were on form tonight: tight, well written songs, played by a bunch of mates – it doesn’t get any better.

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