After a hard weeks graft what better way to unwind than with a road-trip and a gig! Which was the case when the Moosemobile (rather than Wagon Woodstock) trundled up the A1M to Nottingham to be a part of the Still Dying promoted ‘all day’ event.

Mark, the man behind Still Dying, is one of the good guys on the scene so it is always good to support a promotion like this.

I always enjoy the anticipation of events like this. A chance to hear the familiar, catch up with friends and, hopefully, discover a couple of ‘never before heard’ bands to stick on the list of ‘ I rather liked that!’.

The omens that this was going to be a typical night were apparent the moment Mark arrived at the venue at 3pm to begin the setting up etc., to find that they couldn’t get access until 4pm! So already behind the clock before a punter had step over the threshold. So, albeit for the most unforeseen reasons( a family bereavement of one of the bands members) when The Human Targets were unable to play it did help relieve the time pressures.

However, I am 100% certain that Mark, and everyone else would rather have had to deal with time issue. Fraser (Vocals – The Human Targets) did pop in for a while to catch up with Mark and also Born To Destruct which was very much appreciated.

To business then.

Getting things under way were The Jet Boys, a local band, who have been round for a while if the member since date on MySpace is any indicator. Which actually surprised me as not only did they look too young to shave, I wouldn’t have been surprised if they needed a note from a “Parent or Legal Guardian” giving permission for them to take part! Oh to be young again!!
Musically – not at all bad.



The songs are decent, the band are reasonably tight, nothing too complex in construct but with enough touches here and there to keep you interested. Particularly liked the ‘in unison’ ‘riffing’ between guitar and bass that appears on a couple of songs. The drums keep everything honest and the vocals sit nicely on top of this foundation.

For me, based on what I heard on the night, I did find that there was a certain similarity about each of the songs. A certain bass rhythm seemed, to me at least, apparent in each of the songs. So it would good to hear the band to push beyond what obviously is its ‘comfort zone’.

I have noticed they have some demo's up on their MySpace so I shall take me off and have a listen in a bit. www.myspace.com/thejetboysofficial - Take a listen for yourself.

Overall a good band to start things off as they delivered I nice grungy/punky/rocky blend of music, perhaps not what the die-hards would class as punk, but what is punk? Surely it’s the ethic and the ethos as much as the ‘sound’? There was a decent sized crowd for a first band taking in to account it was 5:30pm on not just a Saturday but F.A. Cup Final Saturday!

The sound at the start of the set I didn’t think was as good as it was towards the end of the set but it certainly was not bad at any point. A couple of songs stood out for me – the 2nd on the set list (a new one) which for me didn’t help as they were all new! IT NEVER ENDS was my favourite of the lot, and the set closer also grabbed my attention.

The Jet Boys are; Alex Strongman Guitar/Vocals, Matthew Beech Guitars, Adam Crooks Bass Guitars/Backing Vocals and Robert Brighton Drums/Percussion

Next up where The Rutherfords. A band I know are a particular favourite of Mark's! So I was gutted when the start of the bands set coincided with needing to return to the car to put more money in the meter, I was less than chuffed, even more so when my attempt to buy a ticket for evening parking was unsuccessful, but as this is a review of a music event and not the trials and tribulations of parking in Nottingham I shall spare you the details! Now! Where was I? A yes! The Rutherfords.

A very entertaining pop punk/garage/power pop trio from Nottingham so two local bands to get things going. Not a bad move as it meant the crowd for the first couple of bands was fairly decent, the question was would it remain so for the others...

Back to the band! That this trio enjoy themselves is plain for all to see (and hear). All three contribute vocals in varying combinations and all can sing. They have a good ear for harmony too which they use to good effect none more so than in Victoria Inn where they even indulged in a bit of naked harmony (as in acapella not literally!) There is a great understanding amongst the members of the band, great interplay musically, great stage presence, and they deliver tight, powerful energetic punky pop with a smile on their face and passion in their hearts!.



As I mentioned I missed the first two or three songs but if they were on a par with the rest of the set then I missed some good stuff! Apart from the unaccompanied vocal bit in Victoria Inn this was my least favourite of the songs, and the cover was not on the same par in terms of quality as the self penned stuff, but I stress, again, this my take of what I heard on the night and everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Definitely a band I shall keep an eye on to see when our paths cross in the future, as they are firmly on my list of must see again.

The Rutherfords are; Glyn Rutherford - Mum guitar / Vocals, Lee Rutherford - Dad guitar / Vocals and Greg Rutherford - Drums / Vocals
www.myspace.com/therutherfordsband

First of the out of town bands was Born To Destruct a Cambridge based female fronted 4 piece pop punk band. Those that follow my reviews know how close I am to this band and have been privileged to part of their journey from the very first gig. I appreciate Born To Destruct are not everyone's 'cup of tea'. They are unusual in having a female 'singer' who does it her way rather than conform to stereo-type. So when I hear some ignoramus make their dislike known verbally I would like to say, as entitled as you are to your opinion, why not go outside with everyone else that decided to sit this band out, and wait until there is something more in keeping with your “narrow minded” taste. Rant out of the way!!



Those that did remain to see the band (once again big thanks to Fraser for popping in to catch the band), were privy to some more rather good pop punk. The set was well balanced and contained examples of the old, the new, and somewhere in between. If you like a bit of a musical journey that went from where they started to where they are now and how they got there! But as for most people watching this was the first time hearing the band, everything was new!

The sound was not too bad. There have been more than a few venues that have struggled with the fact that Kat Destruct (VOX) (a) sings and (b) uses a radio mike so it was great that the sound guy knew what he was doing (cheers!).

Woodstock Punkrock (GUITAR & B/VOX), Dr Stuart (BASS & B/VOX) and Richie Rich (DRUMS) delivered and fun doing it. There were a couple of slips including a missed vocal cue in Sick Scum and Apathy by Woodstock which is a rare and noteworthy happening. That aside, the band gave a good account of itself to a crowd that was on the small side (certainly smaller than for the first couple of bands.) NOTHING launched the set and was well received, FLYIN' with its brevity caught several by surprise and received a very muted reception (also the vocal was particularly quite too), LEECH, 24 HOURS, WE'RE BACK an SICK SCUM AND APATHY definitely grabbed the attention and had an impact as the band sold a few CD's on the back of it, which is encouraging!

www.myspace.com/borntodestructbtd is the place to find out more about the band!

With Born To Destruct kicking off what was to be a trio of female fronted bands GIRLFIXER were next up. A name I have seen regularly which always piques my interest as I like to see what 'the fuss' is about. Another local band, they had perhaps the largest crowd of the night.

There was a slight delay as it transpired that the guitar cab was not working meaning that instead of being able to use the Marshall head as hoped Antony (Guitar) had to use a combi and had a bit of a job getting the sound and volume required as feedback was never far away. In the true nature of these things some informed nob twiddling, some slightly less informed tweaks, and resigned shrug or two and the band were ready.

Nicola (Drums) and Lance (Bass) did an excellent job of laying the foundation for each song, the guitar was a little quiet on occasion but overall knitted with bass & drums intelligently. Natalie (VOX) is no shrinking violet. Plenty of attitude, bags of angst and an extremely full on style of vocal delivery, which for my tastes was a little too full on. There is no doubting that it fits the style of songs extremely well.

I found it a little frustrating that every now and then you'd hear a glimpse of a damn fine voice underneath all that pile driven ferocity and I kept hoping I'd hear a little more of it. A very good band that got a great reception and I can see why they are accompanying THE FRONT on their UK TOUR as they compliment each other well. So, nothing personal, just not for me.

Find out more about the band www.myspace.com/girlfixermusic and check out the tour dates at http://www.myspace.com/stilldyinguk

Completing the female fronted trio in the middle order was the aforementioned THE FRONT, the other 'out of town' band, hailing as it does from Casper, Wyoming in the 'wild west' of the US of A. Also being a distance of close on 4,000 miles I guess The Front could lay claim to the bragging rights on which band from out of town came the furthest!

This appearance at The Central Venue being the 2nd night of a potential 15 date tour of the UK. A band I knew very little about before the gig, in fact my sum knowledge consisted of the fact I knew Woodstock (Born To Destruct) had reviewed their Snake Oil Salesman Album recently, and catching the last 3 or four tracks of the CD when I arrived for lunch at BTD HQ!

Opening with the title track off their 2nd album, Snake Oil Salesman got the set off to an impressive start. This is no mere female fronted rawkus punk outfit. They are very much premier league contenders. Trust your own ears if you doubt mine. There is nothing hookey or hokum about this band, far from it they are the real deal and no mistake. From the first word of Snake Oil Salesman to last of White, Lauren (VOX) put on a master class of high energy, angst ridden, venom dripping vocal delivery. Yes it included some extremely full on screamed passages, but, there was contrast and balance and the voice behind the siren wails was allowed to break out like the sun after rain, lifting things to a new level and adding depth and texture to some very tasty songs. I loved the dirty rasping double picked bass lines that snapped and snarled every bit as much as Lauren's vocals. This was backed with some fine drum work and the guitar added the final ingredient in the mix to produce some high octane punk which correctly received rapt attention and wholesome appreciation. The set consisted of quiet a few tracks that can be found on the 2nd album and for the record the set was as follows (I think!)

SNAKE OIL SALESMAN*, FIRE AWAY*, DEATH DRESS*, COMMANDO, TAKE ME ON*
BLOOD MONEY, LOW INCOME LOVE*, TAKE BACK THE NIGHT*, ALL HAIL*
BE YOUR GIRL, WHITE*  * from the album Snake Oil Salesman

Favourites for me were SNAKE OIL SALESMAN, BLOOD MONEY, FIRE AWAY and ALL HAIL.

As I mentioned the band have just started a UK tour which ends on May 30th and takes in places like LONDON (The Bridgehouse II), KETTERING (Sawyers), NORWICH (B2 Venue) and several venues up North!. The Kettering gig is well worth a mention as also on that bill are MISPELT 2.0 another band with a shy retiring violet of a singer, N O T !!! What a night, Lauren, Natalie and Jen (Mispelt 2.0) now that is well worth a look/listen!

Full details of the dates are shown below. A couple of the dates are awaiting confirmation so may be worth contacting Mark at Still Dying to see what's what
http://www.myspace.com/stilldyinguk

The Front are; Lauren (VOX), Steve (GUITAR), Mike (BASS) and Dustan (DRUMS)
www.myspace.com/thefront

The band with the unenviable task of 'Follow That!' were Rebel City Radio which was another name with which I was familiar and similarly keen to check out. A highly energetic, balls out, pedal to the metal quartet that assault your ears with a blistering barrage of guitar lead, bass and drum driven, hard core rock/punk.

A veritable blitzkrieg! (Which spookily is the name of the band originally scheduled to headline this event.). Although a relatively new band (2008) they built up quite a following and have caught the ear of a several 'people' and in doing so have become 'serious players.' With plaudits from among others Radio 1, Kerrang Radio and the legendary Charlie Parker it's hard to argue against the bands pedigree. I have to agree they are indeed a highly energetic, excellent band, just not one that on the night did anything for me.

There were several that disagreed with me judging by the reaction they got to each of the first four or five songs. And so it was that with the prospect of a 2½ hour journey to get home that I left Rebel City Radio to a more receptive audience and headed for the Moosemobile to begin the trek home (via BTD HQ) to the bad lands of Ely in the Cambridgeshire Fens!

Rebel City Radio are: Robbie Sparks (GUITAR & LEAD VOX), Mac Mayhem (GUITAR & LEAD VOX), Al Stocker (BASS & B/VOX) and Joey “The Bastard” Briggs (DRUMS)
www.myspace.com/rebelcityradio

My apologies to The Maybeez for not staying to watch their set. I hope they got the reception they deserved, and going by what I saw earlier in terms of support for the local bands I am sure they did.

Thanks to:

• Mark @ Still Dying for promoting another excellent night of fine music. Good luck with the rest of the tour (THE FRONT'S UK TOUR)
• The sound guy. Great job.
• Special mention to Fraser for coming down to catch BTD
• To all the bands for playing their part in making it such a good night
• To everyone that came along and supported some/all of the bands.
• The venue and staff for providing a place to play and keep us all well hydrated with a range of different beverages!

As ever, respectfully submitted by


A Man Called Moose