Red Dollar, Heartbeat Assassins, Sirenide, The Tease - Esquires, 3rd December 2005
Reviewed by Martin Stapleton / Pictures by Suzy Cook
The Tease are back and boy what a blast they gave us to start tonight's show. Their set had a real mix to it, somewhere between Prog Rock and The Kaiser Chiefs! Tommy and the boys altered style and pace throughout their twenty five minute slot. The slower 'Forgive Me' and the track that preceded it, 'Moonlight Murder' captured the essence of a band who were on top form tonight.
The music carried on at a breakneck pace with the return of Leighton Buzzard's marvellous Sirenide who I'm sure made a load of new fans tonight as well as satisfying the appetite of their regular followers. Their set flowed effortlessly as Sirenide put together a polished and professional performance that was moving, biting, stinging and vivid and, above all, utterly superb. New song 'Realize' is given an airing and it is well received. As you may have gathered, I am a huge fan of this talented young band.
Heartbeat Assassins followed but for me their set was a bit of a let down after all that had gone before. It just felt a bit routine and flat.
Comprising Don (vocals/guitar), Paul (guitar), Billy (bass) and Danny (drums) tonight marked the debut performance of Red Dollar a hard edged local indie band. With an aggressive frontman backed up by a bunch of talented musicians, they furnish us with silky strings (when they don't snap) and ferocious and vibrant drumming. They open with a salvo of 'FYI' and 'Pythagoras Theorem' before bringing the tempo down with 'Waiting' and 'Eon'.
Before bowing out in a blaze of glory, Don throws out loads of Red Dollar notes to the crowd whilst fixing them with a wide eyed expression which seemed to say 'Love us or f**k off!'. In their final song 'Still Waiting', the guitarists give it their all whilst Don appears possessed! The crowd cry out for more but unfortunately they will have to wait until the next Red Dollar gig which hopefully will be very soon.