A WEEKEND of home town shows, so glad not to have to travel in some pretty grotty weather.
First up were a young local hard-core band called Crown who have been quietly building up a good reputation for themselves with some fine performances.
They were on top form again with a really tight delivery and some powerful emotive vocals. However, performances themselves can only take a band so far, as the guys kind of let themselves down by disappearing soon after they had played, rather than supporting the other bands on the bill.
Next up and all the way from Essex were The Tickturds, who are a rather mix and mash up band so far as genres are concerned. However, for their speed alone I would pop them into the punky camp.
They played very fast, mostly short abrasive songs and in spite of their basic structure, managed to squeeze in a fair bit of fancy guitar work. I quite enjoyed their rough and ready style, but I believe a lot of their humour was lost on the assembled crowd.
Second in Line from Newbury/Basingstoke took the mid-way slot with their own brand of fast skate-punk. Alas the technical gods were not with them and they were dogged by one problem after another. (Playing in a band myself, I understand just how unsettling that can be!)
As this was pretty much a DIY show, no-one minded and they did manage to muddle through in the end. At least they could go away safe in the knowledge that their next show could only be better.
Main support was provided by DSA from Reading who are a very, very fast contemporary punk band.
I think we in the crowd held our collective breaths, wondering if the gremlins would strike again - but thankfully they did not and we were treated to a cracking performance. It was one fast, short track after another blasted out into the crowd, very enjoyable indeed.
The headline band, Vanilla Pod have been around for at least two decades, so I am pretty sure that I must have seen them at least once before.
They are a very fast skate-punk/pop-punk band with a really tight, professional performance that can only be gained by all their years in the business. They rounded off perfectly a pretty diverse but interesting show.
So a big thanks to all the bands that played, to the promoter, to Rockbitch and to the manager and staff of the venue for an entertaining night.
Neil Duncan, ISSUEPUNKZINE
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