The Eighteenth / The Kites / Stranger / Acosta - Esquires, 17th June 2005
Reviewed by Martin Stapleton
A small but enthusiastic crowd witnessed the return of two bands and the start of two others.
Acosta recently made a big impact when they previously played Esquires as part of The Battle of the Bands competition, and they enhanced their reputation further with a glowing twenty minute set.
With a sound they describe as 'P.J. Harvey jamming with The Throwing Muses', singer / songwriter Rosie Abbott is a superb front woman, effortlessly moving between the haunting 'Did it look that bad?' to the vibrant 'Hair Down', the latter song also featuring a fabulous guitar riff. Here's hoping the Nottingham based Acosta get the success they deserve.
Following them were another band that I was delighted to see back at Esquires again, Stranger. Fronted by Jess and bass guitarist Dan, they have been practising hard for the past three months and it is obviously paying dividends. With still no lead guitarist and with apparently a different drummer, 'Better than that' and 'Frustrated' are songs that are growing on me rapidly, especially having heard Dan play them acoustically in the bar on a number of occasions. Jess has a voice reminiscent of Patti Smith and I hope to see both them and Acosta back at Esquires very soon.
After two great opening acts, the next band The Kites totally failed to excite me. Their music was simply fairly routine rock and the front mans efforts to establish a rapport with the crowd couldn't make up for the shortcomings of their sound. Perhaps I just caught them on an off night…
The last band of the night were The Eighteenth who, having witnessed their sound checks in the bar on many occasions, it was good to see them playing a full set. Unfortunately, they were somewhat pressed for time, which meant they perhaps did not have the opportunity to interact with the audience as much as they would have liked. Despite this, they put together a good fast and furious ten strong set. Although I am not a great fan of bands performing covers, I thought there version of the Joy Division classic 'Transmission' was excellent (although at the end of the song the band announced they wouldn’t be playing it anymore!).