Living Under The Influence EP
Damn this is a step up both technical and in the orchestration! It's amazing. We finally get a released version of Tories, Tour De France (see previous post for more on that), Miss Cougar... Name says it all. My favourite on this Il Padrino, which starts with some synths and an obscene number of build-ups! COME ON BABY
Launch Party @ Nice N Sleazy, Glasgow 23rd May
Prologue
It's a Thursday night, 200miles away from Manchester, we have work at 9am Friday - a 4hour Strategic meeting to start that day too! Any normal person would wait until the band play a local venue.
No, we're driving the 3hours to the gig and back in the same night.
Both me and Richard book Thursday off to allow us time to get North. At noon we set off, playlist at the ready, Monster Energy & Snacks at hand... Fast forward several hours, a Nando's and a couple of JDs we get to Nice N Sleazy and settle in for the evening.
Talking with WD
Whilst we sip our several JDs, (only a few, no drink driving people!) We catch up with Russell and Harvey, whilst Calvin and Grant are off interviewing / podcasting at the booth next to us.
I've not heard/read that yet, I'll share it when the lads share, but I'm pretty sure it didn't have a patch on the unrecorded conversations that went down on at our booth ;-).
I'll leave those stories between us, but maybe 'The Rus & Harv Podcast' will one day be a thing, then you can find out yourself about 2tonne TVs, Midnight Road Painting, Snakes Procreating and Balcony Scaling.
Ok I will touch on that last one, as that's the story of why the lads were tired. Getting locked out of their flat after late night practice the night before...tales of lost keys, unanswered the buzzers, a construction fence as a pseudo-ladder and balcony scaling. They finally got into their flat at 2am, before having to get up early for photoshoots!
Got to be honest, I'm feeling very tired, only on 4 hours sleep myself and a long day and drive, sometimes I wonder why we do this to ourselves.
Ha, nah, this is why we do it, the conversations, the people, THE MUSIC. When a gig starts, that energy from the stage and crowd absorbs into you, you bounce into another world!
The Gig
The support acts Third Party and Two Tone Television were both great warm ups.
Third Party (check out track RPB on Spotify), they have a different MO, often did some instrument and lead vocal switching which kept us in our toes. Very they're good! Punky / Indie / Heavy - at times they held a similar sound to False Heads!!!
Two Tone Television (check out The Heavy) they were also pretty heavy indie I liked their sound, at this point I was little preoccupied so can't comment too much, I'd definitely say they are a band to listen to and their now in my playlists
Weekend Debt
So this is the 4th time watching these guys, actually, first time with this line up - with Calvin on guitar. I was unsure how things would be without Ewan, I knew the EP was awesome and the sounds were on another level, but the guys have matured, I'm sure this is partly due to natural growth and a technical skill brought by Calvin... Undoubtedly an amazing guitarist!
The setlist was a good set, I don't want to dwell too much on the that, you know we know these guys are good. They are excelling, vocally even better than ever, entertaining both on and off stage. From Grants goosebump generating solo Magnetic Girl to Russell's sheer enthusiasm bouncing more and more as the gig goes on. Harvey with his crowd pleasing/teasing and 'Technical ability' fixing unruly Instruments... And as I said, Calvins guitar skills just another level.
My favourite parts are the rework of some of their previous tracks, adding new layers and tones. I love bands who have great studio tracks but actually perform them slightly differently and with more breadth, it's like you get several versions of a great song! On top of this, some cool feedback effects and even got a pit during Il Pedrino!
Tho the best bit, the suprise - 303 AM ... Fucking... 303 AM.... With a 2 minute solo and crowd energising buildup, I managed to get a little bit of it on video! This needs to be on every gig, infact I'd take 10minutes of this it was fucking Awesome. Plus 303 is my favourite track so this was even better!
THIS
Ahh we finally get home at 2am. New merch in hand too! Mega thanks to the lads, worth the journey, and I can tell you when these guys play your town - get there! If they aren't playing near you, get to Scotland.
For now!
Michael & Richard
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