When you lose control and you got no soul
Nine Black Alps @ Nottingham Rock City, 20th February 2006
Fridges are here - go make your guesses.
I think it's been a pretty long time since I went to a gig where I have never to my knowledge heard a note by the headliners. Nine Black Alps then..... We were late for probably the most un-rock'n'roll reason ever -- we had been watching a gripping game of curling between Denmark and Canada -- but arrived to find The Kids were out in force. To be honest, I'm never really sure if is a good sign or not, but it did mean that there was plenty of experimental facial hair, lots of first-time drinkers and just a touch of tentative snogging going on. Nice.
Shame the band were shit.
Well, maybe shit is a bit harsh, but they weren't great. I gave them the benefit of the doubt for a couple of songs. They were quite noisy and shouty, but it was the kind of stuff that you could tap your foot to, and The Kid's were rocking. After a couple of songs though, I began to concentrate on who they reminded me of: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, a touch of The Offspring perhaps.... I think the singer hopes he sounds like Kurt Cobain, but to be honest he reminded me a little of Graham Coxon and quite a lot of Jilted John. Bizarrely, one song appeared to steal the melody from "Tragedy" by the BeeGees, and that's what I was singing in the car park. That can't be good, can it? Go to a gig by a rock band and come out earworming 1970s disco.
Apparently the NME says they are the next big things.
Like they know.
They weren't really terrible, and both the band and The Kids looked like they had a decent time. I just thought that basically they were shouty nonsense.
Still, a night at a mediocre gig is better than a night in front of the telly, right? And it was only a tenner.
5/10
posted by swisslet @ 23:41
5 Comments:
At 10:11 am,
Ali said…
Oh, what a shame - still at least you stretched your legs.
:)
At 2:07 pm,
Alecya G said…
The Kids, eh? What's that, people my age? A bit younger?
Have you noticed you've said 'better than a night in front of the telly' quite a lot after your most recent gigs lately? That can't be good.
Shouty nonense....that sucks.
At 2:49 pm,
Ben said…
Nine Black Alps were the first band I "saw" at Glastonbury last year - after the nightmare of the Friday morning. I say "saw" because the John Peel Tent was so packed I was stood well outside (ten to fifteen people deep outside...) and I only managed to grab the odd glimpse of them.
Live I thought they were decent, but the album's good - nothing earth-shattering, and certainly transparent in its influences (Nirvana, a bit of Muse, some more Nirvana), but more than solid nonetheless. Shouty and noisy yes - but melodic with it(at least on record).
Can't think of a song on the album that sounds like 'Tragedy' - perhaps it's an oldie, or a newie, or a B-side.
At 4:08 pm,
Jenni said…
Go to a gig by a rock band and come out earworming 1970s disco.
That about sums it up, doesn't it?
At 8:48 pm,
HistoryGeek said…
I've liked the single that I've heard on the radio. It's too bad they weren't quite so good in person. Perhaps they will mature in their performance.
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