A Saturday night at the Rosemount normally requires some amount of crowd negotiation and a lot of waiting at the bar, but it seems there were a few better offers tonight as the venue did little more than fill the couches around the room and the stools at the bar. But those who had made it down were soon convinced they made the right choice for their Saturday night.
For only their fourth gig, Ichi the Killer seem to be doing a lot of things right, although there’s always room for improvement. Their sound is something like Bloc Party meets At the Drive-in, and these influences are not too subtle. It’s fairly safe to say these guys aren’t covering any new territory but they definitely do it in style. Lead vocalist Liam Kennedy oozed charisma and lifted the energy of the rest of the band, it’s a pity that his vocals didn’t live up to the standards. Give them some time to work on this and find their own sound and Ichi the Killer might be worth checking out.
Stumbling on stage bearing the bitterness of a recent unfavourable review, the next band were determined to show the crowd exactly what audience interaction means. Colors frontman Simon Fasolo launched the band into a solid, energetic set and the band had their audience from the word go. Colors have taken a lot of time out from gigs this year to work on their upcoming EP, and it seems to have done them well. Reworking of older tracks Demi and Either Way (both on the EP) were just as catchy as ever with their Strokes-inspired rock. The new songs have a darker, more mature sound with obvious new rave influences and these went down well with tonight’s crowd.
The Harlequin League were the winners of the recent Next Big Thing Competition, and tonight, they proved just why. While their live show has been known to become something of a jam session with a few songs thrown in for good measure, tonight’s set was tight and flawless. Starting the set with the darker Syndrome Expatriate, James Rogers (vocals/bass) charmed the audience before launching into the catchy Jungle-Bones. Meanwhile Benjamin Pooley (organ/synth) was doing all he could not to knock over his keyboards entirely as guitarist and percussionist Sebastian Astone was jumping between his guitar and the drum kit, the onstage antics aiding the frantic pace of tonight’s show. Mid set were two new songs, continuing to prove this band’s potential and build our anticipation of their coming release. The set finished on a high with What the City Wants, leaving the stage for the headliners.
Stage presence seems to be something tonight’s line up understands and Streetlight are known to take things up a notch, and they did. Which is why it’s more of a compliment when tonight’s show was not up to their usual standard. It seems the small crowd didn’t do much to get the band going, but frontman Le Craft ’s spirits don’t dampen so easily. As the show was part of the Borrowed the Light tour the song sat well as the opener, followed by single Attack that Gentleman. Le Craft really carried the set, throwing himself about the stage with his usual grace and conviction. Streetlight worked through a number of tracks off their recent mini album and even threw in a new song, which – if possible – may even be better than their current material. The band continues to sound less like their influences and more like Streetlight each time you see them, and even on a bad night their live show will leave you wanting more.
