Playing Away + Watch the Walls + Fenix Fires - 19th March 2009
Reviewed by Martin Stapleton
As is becoming the tradition at this time of year, Bedford Alternative Music, courtesy of Keith Pickering, started its showcase Thursdays. The concept is clear and simple. Three successive Thursday heats downstairs in Danny's Bar, followed by a Maundy Thursday Easter extravaganza on level 2 featuring four of the bands showcased. Genre of music is totally irrelevant.
Travelling from Nottingham and first up are the hotly anticipated Fenix Fire. They are championed by the young musos in town because they include guitarist Rory who was a member of Doubting Thomas a few years ago. Unfortunately, due to illness, the band are minus their bass player tonight. The remaining trio worked doubly hard, which seemed to pay off during their entertaining set. They hit the mark immediately with "Foundations", while a cover of the nu-metal song "Scars" is a song and style they feel so at home with. It's clear that the locals are enjoying these hardworking out of towners, especially when they give us their latest composition "From the ashes". In true rock'n'roll style, the vocalist swigs nonchalantly from a bottle of Jamesons that's close at hand. He does, however, have a bottle of water as well. "Darkside" induces a triumphant hand-waving crowd reaction which includes oodles of "Uh - whoa - uh ho whu -ho -whu-ho's" in it's vocals. For the struggles that Fenix Fire experienced today, the richly earned applause at the close is, I feel, thoroughly deserved. Well done lads.
Watch The Walls are a young Flitwick trio new to Esquires and are playing their first proper gig, and how it showed. They seemed to spend a large chunk of their thirty minute set continually laughing and joking with their collection of mates who egged them on for good measure. The punked up threesome start well enough on their first song, but the hole they dug for themselves with all the inane chatter did them no favours. The style is very Blink 182, but tonight they talked better than they played!
It's good to report that Bedford's only active young ska band Playing Away are continuing to make good progress. With the addition of a couple of new members including Luke, formerly of Radiating Eyes, the line-up seemed at ease with itself. All eight youngsters are starting to gel. My eyes and ears are firmly fixated on the wonderful brass section this band employ. They start with their first composition ever, which is "Directions". It's skanking finale really gets everybody moving. Playing Away's engaging young vocalist tells us that the band have been in the studio recently putting together an EP. In fact, so popular was it tonight, that the copies were all sold before I could get my hands on one! Although the vocals are sometimes at odds with the rest of the band, I particularly enjoyed "Mr Fantastic", while the closing "Don't give up" could be aimed at these spirited youngsters.