"Ladies and Gentlemen, 3RD DAN have entered the building"... Into the small darkened venue, in front of a sparse audience, these four youngsters walked on stage and, undeterred by the crowd of seven, they commenced to play a stomping, thumping set which pushed the in-house PA system to its limit.
And what a performance it was - these guys were simply bursting with energy. With the powerful vioces from lead singers Rory Nellis and Dan Josman ripping through the band raw with emotion; Rory's seamless intrument swapping (from keyboard to guitar - mid-riff on occassion); and great musical performaces from the other band members, it was as if they were playing Wembley Stadium, not the Water Rats, Kings Cross.
Strikingly fresh faced and young looking, the sound of 3rd Dan is not what you'd initially expect. These guys may look like a scruffy version of Busted, but that is where the similarity ends. What was impressive was the maturity of the lyrics, which again, without wanting to sound patronising, was not what I envisaged from such a band.
Multi-talented and multi-instrumental, they sujected the onlookers to some grinding guitar-heavy tunes, while still maintaining a nice pop sensibility, indispersed with the occasional bout of headbanging rocking piano action.
Three songs into the set and the audience had swelled to a more respectable thirty-three, the members of which were nodding fervently, and there was even an office worker who'd had one too many, thrashing about in her one-woman mosh pit. I doubt that the size of the audience mattered too much to 3rd Dan for two reasons. Firstly, given their performance they clearly love playing their music live - be it in a pub, in a stadium, or even in a field full of cows. Secondly, as performers, all members, in as much as they are able, engaged with their audience really well. The fact that by the end of their set, the crowd, who were initially quite reserved, were left shouting and whistling for more - was quite a testament to their efforts.
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Their music gets quite heavy in places, with strong elements of Muse, and even Pearl Jam, while managing to squeeze some electro-pop in there as well. But at times I felt they were trying to be something that they aren't. Their lyrics are honest, there's quite a bit of depth here, and they come across as being slightly beyond their years, but tortured souls they ain't. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with lacking the inner turmoil that pushes artists such as Tom Yorke and the like. These people have an important role, but if all bands were that way inclined then you'd have hoards of moody music fans going round sporting black nail varnish, being generally very miserable. Hold on a second...
These guys are a good solid indie-rock band who err on the more pop side of the genre, meaning that they are cool, but remain poppy enough not to be alienating. Definitely worth checking out.
(Signed to Honey Records, 3rd Dan are releasing their single "Fall From Grace" on 24th October 2005 via Remote/Pinnacle.)
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