Speedshot + Fenix Fire + Facedown + White Lines to Sunset - 12th March 2010
Reviewed by Martin Stapleton
Bedford Alternative Music presented a night that had a young local flavour running right through it. Admittedly they had travelled a few miles to be with us, but White Lines To Sunset were a credit to the Dunstable music scene. Indeed they included a song that was so powerful and emotive. It was called "96" and dealt with the tragic events that unfolded on an April afternoon in 1989 at Hillsborough football ground, Sheffield. The ninety six in the title is the number of unfortunate souls who were crushed to death on that terrible spring day. This trio gave it the utmost sensitivity and respect. This band got better and better the more they advanced into their set. Displaying a fluid pop punk style, White Lines To Sunset gain from having two flexible vocalists. Other songs of note are "Loser", of which the lyrics "waste of time" are spat out with a certain degree of fury and "The Last Days of Summer" is also admirably performed.
For local music fans who hanker back to the mid-noughties and pine for the good old days of Grim City or Gain, then Facedown sate your obvious desire. The quartet are the byproduct of these past forgotten bands. Perhaps the intervening years may have matured these often unpredictable musicians, but sadly it's not the case. Visually they are impressive, but the songs are easily forgotten. The worst though, has to be their cover of "Hot Stuff" ( a seventies disco song by Donna Summer). Very camp, it merely serves as a warm-up for an even more outrageous cover. Anyone for "Gay Bar"? Indeed they are so corny that Facedown should be sponsored by Kelloggs!
Although Fenix Fire are Nottingham based, they do contain a couple of faces from Bedford's recent past. Their visit tonight is a tie-up with Speedshot. Apparently the roles are being reversed on Sunday night in Nottingham. This is a band who, on tonight's performance, hugely disappoint. They certainly look the part, clad in black with eyeliner by the bucketload. Perhaps that is the source of the problem. The impression that they make is not backed up by any musical substance. Having seen Fenix Fire before, I know that they are capable of so much better.
For Speedshot, as well as being headliners in their home town, tonight is launch night for their recently released EP "Escaped Oafs". At present it's a busy and exciting time for the likeable young trio. They are currently embarking on their first tour and on the whole it has started well. By their own admission they were below par in High Wycombe, but having witnessed subsequent gigs in both London and Luton, things are coming together nicely. Nottingham, Northampton and Cambridge are in due course on Speedshot's radar. They are keen to promote three new songs which, for me, are met with mixed results. "Start Again" is a riff-hugging winner that could in time rival "Snakebite" as a crowd shouting outro. What of "Get It"? Well, it's a slow burner, while "Bad News", for us older music afficionados, conjures up memories of Vim and the boys! For the fashion spotters in attendance, drummer Michele wears a trilby in rememberance of a friend, while the 'beanpole' that is Burkey sports a very old Wildhearts T-shirt. Preferring to keep their set totally original, their encore is interestingly handled. A brief taster of Kiss is the parting thought for us all tonight, "God gave rock 'n' roll to ya"!