Rant 4 Charity
Live
For the first time that I’m aware of, a gig at the Edge of the Wedge has sold out. Not that gigs at the Edge aren’t worthy of selling out it’s just that they’re not often ticketed. Any gig good enough to sell out the 60-odd capacity of the Wedge’s little brother is probably worthy of an upgrade. Still, the venue has its charms, and there seemed no better place for Express FM’s Rant on the Radio fundraiser in aid of Huntington’s disease.
I’m always up for helping out charities, but will someone please explain to me why wacky men feel the need to wear dresses at the slightest sniff of a charity event? Whatever the reason, it was funny, but I never want to see Mark from The Guestlist adjusting his gonads in a flowery summer dress ever again.
The Gun Show
Due to its size, the Edge is predominantly an acoustic venue, and Alex of The Gun Show begins proceedings with some of the band’s pop-punk offerings all on his lonesome. He seems a tad perplexed by the amount of chatting going on during his set, but this is one drawback of playing in a pokey bar filled with cross-dressing do-gooders; no matter how good the music is there’s always something interesting (or disturbing) to talk about.
Alex on his own serves to highlight how well some of The Gun Show’s tunes are put together, although Alex has to lose marks for not playing ‘Good Time on Top’, a favourite of one devilishly attractive and in no way loutish heckler. That would be me then.
The Stations
Next up are The Stations minus their drummer, performing all acoustic-like. Once again the quality songwriting of the band is highlighted by the bare-bones setup, and the crowd is treated to a new song that has all the makings of a future catchy set favourite.
Lead vocalist Tom has the between-song chat and gets everyone’s attention with some Forsyth-worthy stage banter. This being a charity gig, I thought it a perfect opportunity for Tom to sport the infamous Live Aid t-shirt that makes him look even more like Chris Martin, but it’s nowhere to be seen. Gutted.
Multicoloured Green
The middle band on the bill are Multicoloured Green; a White Stripes-esque blues band with Kings of Leon vocals and a guitar amp that is far, far too loud for this glorified cupboard of a venue. After five minutes they haven’t played a song yet, preferring spontaneous guitar squealings and nonsensical nuggets of wisdom to actual chords and melodies.
They manage to play three songs in their twenty-minute set but piss off the bar staff, security, and anyone who doesn’t want tinnitus anytime soon in the process. In typical pissed-up rock star fashion, the frontman launches his guitar at the floor to close his set. Later there are altercations and he is ejected from the venue. It’s a shame because they are a good band, but they haven’t grasped the concept of charity just yet.
Joey Nightmare
Mercifully quieter and more chilled out than the previous duo, the five-piece Joey Nightmare play us a brand of cool pop rock that is hard not to move to. ‘Hard not to move to?’ Jesus. I’m sorry about that horrifically clichéd sentiment, I really am. Is that the best I can come up with? Yes, I’m afraid it is.
At this point in the evening, I get into a deep conversation about something or other and Joey becomes background music, but I don’t mean to take anything away from them, because they are a ruddy good band. Some lucky punter wins a weekend in Bournemouth in the raffle, as well as various other band-related CDs and records etc., but I win zilch. Oh well, there’s always Saturday’s Lotto.
Frank Hamilton
And so on to Frank Hamilton, a name I’ve heard around music-related arenas but I have never actually seen them before. From the first verse and chorus of the first song, I can tell that they are something special. Think upbeat Bright Eyes with a more friendly and accessible main vocal, backed up by a sweet female voice harmonising the chorus’ and taking over the odd verse here and there.
In stark contrast to Multicoloured Green, Frank Hamilton’s band sound awesome in this tiny venue. I can hear every guitar lick, every harmonica tone, every snare shuffle. Quite how they managed it is beyond me. By the end of their set I already had the three quid nestled in my hand to exchange for a CD, and wonderings in my mind as to how a band as good as this aren’t signed already. Although having said that they apparently have ‘something exciting’ happening in two weeks, so who knows what they have in store.
Written by Guest Writers on
