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| Kerblammo Round #4 - Photo by Marcus Evans |
Josh Buckland takes over the Forest Tavern front bar singing Ryan Adams, Smashing Pumpkins and Magnetic Fields songs. In fact he probably played the best cover of Disarm I've heard in a long time complete with growls and high pitch vocals that actually sound a bit like Justin Timberlake. That's probably not who he'd like to be compared to, but it is a good thing.
Any band faced with sound issues at a gig should probably take a leaf out of Dick Venom and The Terrortones book. It's never cool when it happens, but front man Will carries on like nothing's happened at all. Even when the mic cuts out he still shouts away, but he's dismayed when it is finally fixed, "Oh I've got a short mic cable now so I can't nibble you or bite you. The glamrock leather look is made complete with scuzzy punk riffs a la Misfits and Sex Pistols.
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| Kerblammo Round #4 - Photo by Marcus Evans |
Shields describe themselves as "medieval power rock". What I do know is they captivated me to an extent that I didn't notice the room quickly fill up from the eight people that it started with. The thrashing drums and riffs that sound like they're moving in a spiralling pattern go on, and on and only after ten minutes do the band finally stop for a breather. After feeling lost in the droning baseline and repetitive melodic guitar hooks, why would you want them to stop? They power through the set with a combination of fast noise and stoner rock.
It's been a good 18 months since The Maze last saw Gemma Upton's Greatest Wolf project and even then she was on her own. This time she's joined by a sweet looking girl on keys and the leggy blonde on guitar. Gemma has a dry sense of humour and makes no qualms about staring directly into the crowd, with the whole room engaged from the start.
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| Kerblammo Round #4 - Photo by Marcus Evans |
Note to self. Next time I see Hey Zeus I'll make sure I've got more merry tipples down me, because you really have to be in a party mood to watch them. The drummer seems to have that covered as it's quickly made common knowledge that he's on acid, but you wouldn't know that if you didn't notice the massive smile on his face as he nearly falls off his chair. The noise electro group consists of Jody Betts of Royal Gala and DJ Switch who is the only DJ to have ever performed on BBC Proms. The set is a good mix of acid jazz and acapella MC'ing with straight up lyrics about such things as taxi's ripping you off and parties being a dive. They keep everyone entertained by playing a 'guess the theme tune' game at the end and regular crowd motivations such as, "Oh my days. What you saying/ Make some noise."
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| Kerblammo Round #4 - Photo by Marcus Evans |
Ahoy landlubbers and picaroons it's time for gypsy pirate folk. "We've been waiting 100 years for this gig" shouts the captain and it was definitely worth the wait. The 7 piece that make up Seas of Mirth have some good facial hair and bandanas between them but it's the crab that steals the show. Really it's a man dressed in a red sparkly suit, but he's not shy about going up to people in the crowd to give them a little pinch. There were quite a few sound problems but their lively songs made colourful with fiddles and muttered pirate slang make up for it.
Kerblammo - Round 4 took place at The Maze on Friday 9 December 2011.
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