After a short delay due to minds catching up with bodies after the festive extravagance, the Glasswerk Christmas bash has finally been reviewed....
Well, the Christmas party, no cake or pudding but four local bands with reputations to uphold. Arriving at the venue I was greeted by the sight of a rather large queue forming outside waiting for the doors to open and the festivities to begin. Not to disappoint, after a brief delay, and the consumption of a few beverages the doors opened and the people piled in like a plague of locusts making the Theatre pretty much rammed.
Kicked off the proceedings were Wirral skankers Skank Like Frank with their remarkable array of brass instruments. The set moved along the lines of Madness meets Spunge, and managed to maintain a nice healthy skank pit in front of the stage. Most impressive of all though was the raw energy seeping from the performance of these youngsters. Not a second thought was given to leaping off the stage and prancing around with their fans. Very nice.
Seeing Cadium set up on stage I was a bit confused by the absence of the lead guitarist, of who we were soon informed had been struck down by a particularly nasty case of food poisoning. Ooh err . . . who didn't cook the turkey properly then? With the lack of the lead guitar the overall sound was pretty patchy although as the set wore on rhythm guitarist and singer Stu did seem to gain more confidence in his undoubted ability on the axe. What I did notice from this set was that the EQ-ing of the bass amp could do with a little attention, the high end cutting through the sound of the guitar for most of the set.
You could cut the atmosphere with a cricket stump by the time The Mighty Saguaro took to the stage. These boys have built up a promising reputation and most people in the venue were expecting. Indeed the music was a tight as a clenched butt, but there did seem to be a little bit of a lack of inspiration on stage. Despite this the set did amount to an impressive assault on the ear drum. Some of the sounds to emanate from the guitars are completely mesmerising and as noted by a punter; "the drummer is the dog's bollocks". A compliment of the highest order. . . I think..
Last but by no means least were the increasingly popular Junk Culture. Having ditched the formal look the boys took to the stage with an image more suited to their blend of slow indie rock. Kev's vocals were pure liquid and backed up beautifully by the harmonic combination of guitars. You get the feeling that most of the songs are ballad orientated, yet still manage to rock out with deep guitar stokes and bass hooks to die for. Their reputation precedes them and it's not hard to see why. I watch this space.
And after all that Mat proceeded to hand out Christmas crackers, turkey sandwhiches and fortune cookies to everyone. Of course I'm joking, but not a bad idea though.
