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Sweeping statements are the staple diet of all journalists so get ready for two…shaking your hips only looks good when listening to rock n roll and the band who stood out from the barfly’s Thursday night repertoire was not the headline act.
Now all you Vincent fans sit back down and put away your indignation in your back pocket along with your grease comb - Vincent was in top Elvis wannabe form and rock n roll is alive and kicking in his band of merry men. But unfortunately Vincent’s tiresome quest to make rock ‘n’ roll meaningful, or mean anything, is pointless as far as we can tell. Classic Elvis and early Beatles songs hung their power over simple, nonsensical lyrics about holding hands and havin’ a right old laugh is jail. So Vincent attempting the moral high ground while shaking his hips in a hypnotic way is incongruous and futile: the audience wants to rock around the clock not ponder the dance.
And indeed the audience did seem to be performing some kind of Grease inspired school dance to cool tune ‘I’m Alive’. And rightly so, what’s the betting they all went away humming it too- sign of a true bit of pop genius. There were a few stomping little numbers like this as well - Blue Boy (not to be mistaken for Blue Moon) to name one.
So by all accounts the headliners will have managed to grab attention, hopefully to the point of more hits on their perfectly constructed website - really, there are hand made models of the gang in their own cartoon world. But this quirky cyber space may set them up for a fall when they see the less-inspiring real thing.
Vincent were supported by Les Incompetents who are a bucket full of self-deprecating brilliance. These guys are famous. No they are - they’re on the Burtons free-play duke box! Any song that talks about a strange meeting with Andy the disco queen has got to be the work of unhinged genius. Billy Bell and Fedrick Bang (no joke) thrash themselves about on the stage whilst looking strangely dapper! The charismatic duo definitely have the Darkness novelty quality, with their mad scientist look and rhyming couplets 'I woke up in god knows where my life's a mess and so's my hair”
Upstarts The Coronation took to the stage right at the beginning. Nice chaps, keeping respectfully afloat as the first act on. Ben has a decent voice but the one thing that perplexed and often does when seeing guitar four pieces is why singers adopt another region's/country's accent. In this case the lead had a musical liverpudian accent when addressing the crowd, but as the drums started, London was calling. Very odd.
So we come to the best band of the evening: Mr Hudson and the Library. Honestly, they felt like a breathe of fresh air. Inspired by Andre 3000 and Bowie but sounding like the Specials, the harmonious partnership of Mr Hudson and his female keyboard player Joy transformed the atmosphere from rydale high to carribean nights.
Mr Hudson was the perfect host- offering free drinks to all asunder if they got up for a boogie. Reggae and indie should marry in a beautiful ceremony, perhaps in a library. Magical.
