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| Golden Troubadours live at The Maze - Photo by Roo Inns |
Another Tuesday night and another Glastonbudget Festival audition at the Maze, with these auditions going on every week since the turn of 2011 the competition for places is really hotting up now and many of Nottingham's top bands have already secured there slot on the festival in May!
Tonight is kicked off by a band from not to distant Chesterfield, Kerplunk. Their style is of the Ska/Punk vein and even though the punters are still making their way into the room the band have plenty of energy and the bassist/vocalist bounces around the stage with a constant grin on his face. Mixing fast punk with the odd upbeat ska moments means this band have energy and a catchy edge to their sound and they wear their American Ska/Punk influences on their sleeve, NOFX, Rancid and early Greenday all come to mind. The band played pretty tight and had some nice moments, such as the guitarist and bassist doing some dancing in time! With a cover of cult American Ska/Punk band Operation Ivy thrown in, this is a solid start to the evening entertainment.
Second up are Golden Troubadours, who instantly twist the night in a completely different direction. Acoustic indie/folk played on acoustic guitars and bass with some moody vocals and a electric guitar which adds huge atmospheric effects. Golden Troubadours have a real layered sound that builds melody and emotion and for a band with no drummer they sound massive. Jade Bowman (also of OldBoy and Bowman and Hull who both are already playing the festival) shows why he is such a sort after guitarist with his brilliant and subtle use of a slide and his multi effects pedal. The crowd love it and it certainly would appeal to a range of indie, rock and folk fans with certain moments reminding me of Radiohead, Pink Floyd and Gomez.
Young Nottingham rock band Sapphire Lane take the stage next, the 5 piece have just welcomed 2 new members to the group in singer Megg and drummer Ashley and considering this is only the pairs second gig they look like they have always been part of the furniture. Mixing elements of classic rock from the 70s through to the modern era, Sapphire Lane rock out in style. A great cover of Guns n Roses classic Sweet Child Of Mine is well received and with most the band still being under twenty years old they certainly have a bright future.
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| Science Will Save Us live at The Maze - Photo by Roo Inns |
The biggest crowd of the night seem to gather for Science Will Save Us - originally from Birmingham, but now with members residing in our fair city. A frantic set, helped by a amazing abundance of energy from their vocalist, who runs around the stage and dance floor hitting everything in sight with a pair of drum sticks. They interbreed funky slap bass with heavy grunge guitar riffs, hammering drums and a mix of grunge, punk and metal vocals. Certainly one of the highlights of the evening.
Scarlets Wall kick straight in with a heavy and hardcore punk sound and small moments of indie rock. The vocals are strong and lyric hooks catchy, though at times they lose their way a little and seem a little disappointed that the crowd has thinned out after the earlier bands sets. Still, the band have good interaction with the small crowd and the front man stalks around the dance floor mixing strong rock shouts with full on passionate screams. This mixed with catchy, hard hitting riffage show that Scarlets Wake are another great young rock band coming out the city right now.
The finale of the night is due to be a tribute band, The Skynyrd Experience, obviously a tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd - known for hits such as Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird. Sadly the band didn't realise that the Maze wasn't Nottingham Arena and they couldn't fit their 9 members and 3 Guitar Stacks plus bass amp, drumkit and a hammond organ on stage so they didn't play. Still a good night showing that Nottingham's music scene is going strong no matter what genre you play.
Kerplunk, Golden Troubadours, Sapphire Lane, Science Will Save Us, Scarlets Wall and The Skynyrd Experience played the Glastonbudget Auditions at The Maze on Turesday 8 March 2011.
The Glastonbudget Auditions are taking place at The Maze until the end of April.
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