“Oh what a night, do do doo doo… la la la…” Yes folks, this was a humdinger of an evening. Faced initially with the predictable barrage of “THE” bands, and their fashionista entourages, not to mention half of the male cast of Hollyoaks, it was hard to discern what to expect. Was this to be a Nyah-event, or an effin decent gig? There was certainly a buzz about the place, that’s for sure.
Firstly, THE WHIP sleazed their way onto the stage, with their 1980’s synthy, bleepy noises. They started off well, repeatedly shrieking “I wanna be TRASH” all in our faces. Whip Hoolah.
Their tunes were a trendy mix of dance and rock, very similar to the Bravery and maybe the LCD System, and it built up really well – gradually becoming less angular, and more bass heavy. I actually nearly started raving, but on the grounds of taste I ceased in that particular activity.
Lyrically though, The Whip were a bit rubbish, but I don’t think that their strength lies in their prosaic ability, and given the amount of fag smoking/robotic dancing/beer swilling that the bassist managed to squeeze in between songs, I was impressed enough.
They did get somewhat repetitive though, with the drummer not actually changing the beat at any point during the set. Also, once they’d finished, the DJ played a couple of New Order songs, and I don’t know whether it was deliberate or not, because quite a few people thought The Whip were still on stage…
Interlude number one: while the next band got ready, the crowd migrated to the bar, which was crammed with music journos, PR folk, and the lesser-mingers of the male Hollyoaks cast. Oh, and the pink-haired tutu-wearing women typically found at your average Temposhark gig – including “Rose From York” who’s fast becoming a bit of an institution at their performances.
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Then back into the stage area, to be presented with quite a spectacle. Nu-New-Romantics, THE MODERN, being introduced by a sinister looking character wearing make-up and a top hat, screaming something French in a high-pitched voice, before making way for the front woman - a Marilyn Monroe lookalike, with bags of attitude and killer heels. They’re a rather contrived, yet stylishly burlesque group of haircuts, producing sexy dynamite disco - no robotic dancing here daaaaarling, simply lots of diva disco dancing. Fabulous.
Finally, TEMPOSHARK came onto stage, and as per usual they were on form, opening with their anthemic number “Joy” - shamelessly strutting their stuff on and off the stage, and the whole room was, again, bouncing along quite happily to their marvellously sexy glam-punk music.
So the evening was rather spiffing in the end. If only we hadn’t ended up in that It’s A Scream pub afterwards…
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