McLean's (The Pentre Club), Chemistry Lane, Pentre, Queensferry, CH5 2DA
Thursday 11th March 2010
Pictures by Holly Griffiths & Dave Mounter
Review and additional pics from Richard Hibbert of Academy Images - http://www.academyimages.co.uk/Blog/Blog.html
Rock Night
An interesting schedule for this evening had been arranged by Panic Promotions for their regular Thursday night, which was made all the more interesting by a series of personnel changes to deal with illness amongst band members, that might have devastated the programme, if it were not for the resilience and adaptability of this evening's artistes.
The Backup Plan (acoustic set)
The first group on the programme should have been Manchester based indie group -The Backupplan http://www.myspace.com/ukbackupplan. Normally there would have been five members on stage - Rich - Vocals, Joel - Guitar / Vocals, Alex - Vocals, Ant - Guitar / Vocals, Sam - Drums. However, due to Sam being taken ill on the way to the gig, their regular performance was replaced by an impromptu acoustic set very ably performed by Joel, Alex and Ant, using a borrowed guitar to boot!! Their six offerings featured their new track, Whispers, with Friday Night Street Fight, Good Guys Come Last, Lights! Camera! Satisfaction (all available in their normal format on the website) and Echo. This was a sterling performance, and I for one am very pleased that they had the fortitude to carry on with their scheduled performance, demonstrating a level of professionalism that belies their years. Well done again guys, and I look forward to seeing the full electric set next time around.
Kini con Carnage
Mold based acoustic duo - Kin Con Carnage http://www.myspace.com/kiniconcarnage should have been up next. Once again, illness forced a late change to the line-up.The site is devoid of any personnel details - but the politically charged demo tracks suggested they should be a good listen. Once again illness claimed one of the original 'cast' (Calum McKinney), and in the spirit of the evening, Connor Leckenby (Guitar/vocals) was joined on stage by Isaak Garside (bass) and Alex Trasmundi (drums) to give an 'electric' twist to K.C.C.'s normal set. Opening with Plan B's - Stay Too Long, and including J.L.S's Beat Again, they threw in their own compositions, Brainchild and 1815, before closing with the Foo Fighter's - Everlong. The same admiration goes out to these young men, who did not freak at the challenge presented to them, and came through with flying colours - nice one, and well done on a very, very creditable performance.
Bethan Jones (Acoustic)
Local singer/songwriter Bethan Jones - http://www.myspace.com/acousticdex with 'Jimmy' (her Blue Brunswick Guitar), made an all too brief appearance with a four-track acoustic set featuring her interpretations of Bullet For My Valentine's Tears Don't Fall, Alkaline Trio's Blue in The face, Billy Brag's To Have and To have Not, before concluding with Mountain (on the website). After five years experience of playing guitar, and 'flirtations' within a few bands "I've decided to do things acoustic!" This is certainly how I prefer to listen to Bethan, as it allows not only her considerable instrumental and vocal skills to shine, but also allows an uninterrupted opportunity to experience her infectious personality. A really nice, short set, which set up the final act nicely.
Dirty Static
The excellent trio Dirty Static http://www.myspace.com/dirtystatic headlined on the night, giving what I consider to be the finest performance I have seen them deliver to date. There has never been any doubt, that technically there are few, if any, bands locally that can count themselves equals to D.S. But technical ability is only one element of what makes a band stand out during a live set, they also need to be able to bring the separate elements together and perform, and tonight Paz - Guitar, Vocals, Fx, Synths, Steve - Bass and Lonny - Drums, Backing Vocals did just that. Nine tracks Lucidity, A.W.O.L. Pilgrim, How To Beat A Lie Detector, O.K. Indicator, Silent Scream, a sort of 'acoustic' version of Transformers followed by Jealousy and Techno Highway. So what in particular was it that distinguished this performance. Steve's pedal box now sports more effects than most six string exponents employ, enabling opportunities for sound production that one would not normally associate with this instrument, combine this with his innate ability to combine this technology with his well established instrumental talent and one can begin to see why this investment has been made. Lonny's transfer from the 'toy' drum kit to a 'real one' now seems complete, and the effect is inspirational. Paz's mastery of his chosen instrument has always been the mainstay of their performance, but as he continues to push the boundaries of what is achievable, within the confines of what works musically, is the 'cherry on top', and when all three elements combine, the effect is truly astounding, a fact that did not go un-noticed by the Pentre faithful this evening.
Once again, nicely engineered by Panic's staff, a really good evening, that was very much a missed opportunity for those unable to attend.
Audience
