McLean's (The Pentre Club), Chemistry Lane, Pentre, Queensferry, CH5 2DA
Thursday 28th January 2010
Pictures by Holly Griffiths, Lorna Wilde & Dave Mounter
Review and additional pics from Richard Hibbert of Academy Images - http://www.academyimages.co.uk/Blog/Blog.html
Rock Night
A great sense of anticipation over this evening, as it saw the return of Kixxstart Kitty after their awesome inaugural performance at Pentre, as well as local bands Hellacious and The Issues, both of which had impressed during their last performances here. I was therefore eager to see how each of them would approach the evening, particularly as two of the bands will be appearing in this years Battle of The Bands competition (see Panic Promotions’ site for further details)
The Issues
On first were fast improving The Issues (Deeside) www.myspace.com/theissuesjam with a mix of new and old in their seven-track set. Their traditional opener Jammin’ was followed by one of their new songs – Situation, excellent - amply demonstrating the song writing talent that lurks within this group. Acid Rain was followed by Home – guitar work very reminiscent of The Edge in style and delivery – nothing if not versatile these guys!! Lucy’s Lie, with some nice guitar and bass lines and very steady beats preceded the hypnotic rhythms of Enter The Mirror, with bassist and drummer working well together here. A nice finish to the set, with the audience determining the final track – Johnny B Good. So a very nice mix of old and new, together with a more polished stage performance, but still a raw innocence that makes this trio all the more endearing. Really good, I enjoyed this set. They are looking for gigs, so if anyone can help them out, contact through their Myspace site above. They’re scheduled to return for their heat in Battle of The Bands at Pentre on 1st April.
Kixxstart Kitty
It was with no small sense of anticipation that I had looked forward to four lads from Conwy’s – Kixxstart Kitty www.myspace.com/kixxstartkitty making their second appearance at Pentre, was it worth the wait, you bet it was. Nine full on tracks – Sexy Smart followed by an inspired cover of Placebo’s Nancy Boy, before five of their own – Come, Pokerface, their anthen – Sikk Chikks, then Poison and (S)in Her, it was at this point in the set that I ran out of superlatives to describe what I witnessing here. The overused phrase – ‘making an instrument talk’ doesn’t come close to describing Karl’s mastery of that lipstick smudged white Jackson – it went way passed merely talking – he made it scream like a banshees’ orgasm. The set culminating with two more covers, Beastie Boys – Fight For Your Right, given a real K.K. makeover, before closing out with Nine Inch Nails – Wish. It would be totally remiss of me to suggest that this is a ‘one man band’ far from it – intense vocals supplied by Zakk, powerful, rhythmic beats from Dazz and equally impressive bass lines from Kidd, all combined to make this, quite simply, the best set I’ve seen in an age. Their E.P. Cocaine Beauty Parlour should be ready by the time they return to Pentre for an April Fools showdown in heat 5 of B.O.T.B.
Hellacious!
So the bar was set, would Hellacious http://www.myspace.com/hellaciousexclamationmark feel intimidated by what had preceded them? Not a bit of it – they were back to their majestic best, Sian, sporting a very distinctive hairdo, which accentuated her on stage provocative style, mixing with those alluring vocals, well complemented by Carl’s vocals and guitar work, Bod - as steady as ever, providing a solid foundation with his rhythmic bass riffs synched to perfection with Aggy’s percussive contribution. Their eight tracks, Ring Of Fire, Finishing Move, Movie screen Queen, Ain’t Got The Blues, Miss You, Channel 69, Don’t Go and trip To Nirvana, were delivered with great aplomb, throughout which Nigel’s guitar work was right out of the top drawer. Their new E.P. is out and available at their gigs – it is really good, very well engineered, get it – you will not be disappointed. They are also back at Pentre for The Battle Of The Bands on the 4th. March.
If this evening is a foretaste of what is to come during the next few months as B.O.T.B. unfolds, then we are in for an absolute feast of excellent music – look out for these three bands, and a whole lot more over the coming months.
Audience
