I was enticed out on Friday to see the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster but I was far more interested in the local support bands Torqamada and Fighting Red Adair. Anyway, I got there to find the bar packed with lots of trendy student types which always depresses me. It’s not that I like smaller gigs ‘cos I’m an elitist snob [well, okay, maybe a bit] but mostly because popular bands = loads of people in small space = me feeling claustrophobic and having the choice between squishing myself into the front of the moshpit or having a nice view of someone’s back for the whole gig. It was okay for Fighting Red Adair as people were still arriving and stuff so we stood near the front for moral support. Mind you FRA kind of do better when the audience is a bit unfriendly – gives them something to be offensive about and puts a bit of a hostile edge on their performance. FRA were good – they played a few new songs, a few old ones with an extra guitarist/keyboardist [the latter instrument adding an amusing new dinky facet to their sound] and were sounding rather impressive and powerful until Jim did the inevitable bass string breaking and it all faltered into heckling and frustration. If they were famous they’d be the kind of band that missed an important TV appearance because they were throwing stale doughnuts at eachother in the park down the road or something.

After this, things got very packed and I only got to watch the top of Torqamada’s heads. Which was a damn shame as from what I could see they had some pretty impressive make-up and outfits going on. Torqamada truly believe they are the reincarnation of an American 70s punk metal band and they do it with style and conviction. All makes for a hilariously enjoyable show. I’m not the biggest fan of squealy guitar solo metal but this was fun. Will be huge by this time next year if I’m not mistaken.

And then it was time for the final act. I’m not overly impressed with the 80s Matchbox Your Name Is Too Long – from what I’ve heard of their records they’re a damn sight better than a lot of the stuff the NME is hyping but they still have that ‘why?’ element. Why are they so popular? The songs aren’t that great, they’re not particularly attractive or exciting. I just don’t get it. So they come onstage and play a song that I recognise and it sounds pretty good. Then they play another song and it sounds pretty much the same. And then they play another song and it also sounds pretty much the same. And then I got bored and went home.

Posted: 11|24|02 at 10:08 pm. Filed under: live reviews.
Comments and pings are currently closed.