The Saturdays announce first UK tour
The Saturdays
Girl band The Saturdays have released details of their first headline UK tour, which is taking place this summer.
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Shy Child, London Koko
July 6th 2007
In a city that never sleeps, for a 12.30am stage time you need an outfit that can create intrigue and give off energy in the same quantity and there is probably not a new band around today, as well qualified in those stakes as Brooklyn, New York duo Shy Child.
Incongruous, but energetic and captivating, skirting towards the funk disco rock of The Rapture and swinging back into a range of Whirlwind Heat musical spasticity and rawness, keeping the crowd on their toes. ‘Drop The Phone’ stands out for the lurking vocals of Pete Cafarella that have more than a hint of Eamonn Hamilton (Brakes) to them. The catchy Friday night flavour is conjured up with ease, ‘The Noise Won’t Stop’ and it is this number that will win over trendy folk, like many of those in attendance tonight.
Z-List Tears, Warrington WA1 Bar
July 26th 2007
Getting the citizens of Warrington to close down their Arctic Monkeys MySpace page for one night and, to venture out in support of the growing opportunity to see a vibrant local band, is a thankless task on a Saturday night. Therefore, to ask this of them on a Thursday evening is as worthwhile as asking Amy Winehouse if she’d like a glass of orange juice.
Creamfields 2007
Pre-purchased alcohol is guzzled frantically, as revellers stand in an increasing queue waiting to be searched. 15:45 approaches and the cutting comments at this inconvenience become aggravated because, an agonising 400 yards away the man of the moment Mark Ronson is whipping out whirling mixes and funky tunes. Naturally, tracks from the Version album dominate, but ‘Ooh Wee’ from 2003’s Caught By The Fuzz album gives the main-stage a bright disco lift.
Plain White Ts, Manchester Academy 3
August 31st 2007
Despondent high school-aged kids wait outside in the vain hope that the melodic pop/punk fairy godmother will fall from the sky and hand them tickets for this sold out show of Plain White Ts. They are probably the only fans cursing the success of recent single ‘Hey There Delilah’. The sold-out signs went up not long after it made friends with our beloved popular radio stations.
Maximo Park, Manchester Apollo
Saturday October 7th 2007
There is something strangely comforting about hearing your native accent when you live away from the place you grew up. Luckily for me, I can experience this feeling whenever I go to see Maximo Park. Paul Smith’s Teesside twang, to be mistaken for a Geordie accent at one’s peril, is music to my ears.
Manchester Apollo sold out months before this much-anticipated gig, and the treat of two hotly-tipped support acts, Blood Red Shoes and Good Shoes, was a none-too-shoddy (ha!) move by the Park. The North East’s most important band kicked off with the rabble-rousing ‘The Coast Is Always Changing’, highlighting an unshakable tightness that certain NE teams’ defences could take note of.
David Ford, Leeds Brudenell Social Club
Monday October 8th 2007
When I think back to my favourite gigs of all time, it is not necessarily seeing my favourite band Blur for the first time at Leeds festival, nor watching the Arctic Monkeys in a dingy club before they got big. David Ford’s show in a small pub in Huddersfield at the back end of 2005 had that special something that you just can’t put your finger on.
The Twang with Little Man Tate, University of Liverpool Student Union
October 12th 2007
Despite their Sheffield roots and a strutting “write about what happens to you” approach, the debauchery-espousing Jon Windle quintet of Little Man Tate has managed to carve their own model of modern life gazing.
Undoubtedly, their bouncing pop slant and Windle’s calming, yet punchy, vocals has helped them steer enough away from the Arctic Monkeys base, to establish their own identity. A pop-friendly and underpinning mod streak takes a more pronounced display through the fatter, newer numbers.
The Rumble Strips & The Answering Machine
They have expanded to a four piece and swapped the drum machine (proudly called Mustafa Beat) for the less programmed and more colourful touch of Ben.
The Answering Machine have veered towards a psychedelic early-The Pixies vibe, coated by a flowery brit-pop backdrop that Cast used to catchy or irritating effect, depending on your perspective. Bassist Gemma provides the steely foundation from which guitarist Patrick and singer/guitarist, Martin, expand colourfully and boldly, taking them close to the strides made by The Dead 60s. Twisted power pop and lyrically bemused tune ‘The Hold Up’ highlights this approach.
The crowd take time to figure out where The Answering Machine lie, as they flit from raw and rocky to sturdy indie and then to heart filled pop. The adventurous ‘Your Father’s Books’ neatly encapsulates all three musical styles and an eccentric megaphone haunt has the impact of Martin effectively heckling their own song. A winding blues filter gives forthcoming single ‘Lightbulbs’ a languid touch and Martin does a The Pigeon Detectives vocal impersonation to end proceedings on a yearningly catchy note. This has the effect of driving indie connoisseurs to scribble this Manchester troupe into their notebooks.
Having the ability to startle crowds at a showcase event or a festival earns you a badge of respect, but doing so at your own gig as well – that must put you on the New Year’s Honours list.
This is the impact of Tavistock quintet The Rumble Strips, and the opening stages of their first tour since they released the adventurously bold ska and rockabilly merging debut, ‘Girls and Weather’. Eerie, soulful cooing precedes the Dexy’s Midnight Runners-backed delinquent flash of ‘Cowboy’. Country bumpkin-clad singer Charles Waller produces a bemused yet defiant vocal push, as the horns rampage and the guitars rock with rhythm, but the crowd remain a little dazed.
This colourful outfit – inclusive of handle bar moustachioed keyboard and horn player – continue their beleaguered lyrical push, through the ska-reviving ‘Hate Me You Do’. True lyrical depth peers out of the veil of brazen horn led instrumental exuberance, waking up the thinkers in attendance, with ‘Building A Boat’. It is through this thoughtful interlude that the subtle, stroking percussive touch of Mathew Wheeler (formerly with Action For Heroes) is noticeably crafted and adds an air of calmness. This low key touch then trickles into the falsetto reaching crowd favourite, ‘I Ain’t Got No Soul’ plus the blues bolstered ‘Oh, Creole’, as the full range of these Devon delinquents is explored.
When the brass element is discarded for a poetic Wordsworth-admiring moment, ‘Clouds’, a completely different band emerges as does a radio friendly pop touch to rival Van Morrison. This slightly wistful break gives the band and crowd a like the chance to preserve energy for the horn hounded big hitters, ‘Alarm Clock’ and the day-dream extolling ‘Motorcycle’. Before a striding indie inclusive encore, ‘Don’t Dumb Down’ takes the evening to its conclusion.
A smaller than expected crowd makes their way out, slightly invigorated. It makes you wonder whether headlining the NME New Bands Tour, an honour that was bestowed on Da Strips earlier this year, is indeed a good thing. Wandering attention spans of modern audiences these days probably rendered their efforts a little redundant. Not tonight though – attentions remained fixed.
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