Hurrah for 2008's Capital of Culture! As a regular at the Cavern Club’s unsigned nights I get to see a lot of bands play. And I mean a lot. The vast majority of these look and sound as if they’ve been together for about 3 weeks and play what appears to be the same song over and over (like a monkey with a…) until they’ve forced all but their trusty ‘bezzie’ mates to the bar to get away from the aural mess. Just as I’m thinking “This is the last time I’m coming down to one of these nights” a band will step up to the stage and make me realise why I started coming here in the first place; to catch that magical moment when a band that I (and probably most people in the room) have never heard of, hit the stage and deliver beautiful music that takes me away from the world for half an hour. No matter what happens to these bands, whether they go on to become bigger than Jesus Christ or slip away into obscurity, I know that at the very least I’ve shared something special with them.
Tonight it’s the turn of The 100 Club to reel me in with their instruments and deliver me from all that is evil with a set of songs that combine rock guitars, a thundering rhythm section and vocals that could cut glass. After being treated to an elongated drum solo and the guitarist doing his worst to hide behind a pillar, I was expecting some sort of Mighty Boosh-style weird comedy show with added ‘rock action’. Luckily I’m subjected to a 30 minute romp of post-grunge-alternative-rock that packs in variety and tunes not seen in this part of Liverpool since, well, I don’t know when. I remember checking the flyer and seeing they were from Manchester, but standing before me were not 3 grubby Ian Brown clowns, but a unit of solid rock substance that sounded like they should have been from somewhere on the East Coast rather than England’s capital of rain.
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But whatever, back to the music. You can usually tell before the first song has finished whether a band will be any good, and with a sound that reminds me of QOTSA without all the macho posturing and an added shot of melodic force, my mind is made up within 2 minutes. Taking in strains of post-punk, grunge, pop and good old fashioned rock, the band are extremely tight and also extremely loud. I found myself looking for an additional guitarist at one point as I didn't believe this sound was coming from just three men. The crowd seemed a little bemused by the first two songs, perhaps because of them being lulled into a coma by the sub-standard indie scraps usual on offer, but by the time the guitarist launches into a slower number the band seem to have won over the Cavern faithful. Towards the end one of the crowd drunkenly proclaims love for his new favourite band by grabbing the bass players mic and break-dancing on the floor while the band play on unperturbed before dedicating their final song of the night to the inebriated young chap. My faith in underground music restored, I leave the Cavern just as the stage invader vomits onto the bar. Where else but in Liverpool?
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