Whilst the rest of Camden sadly lies in a black smouldering heap of rubble all that can be said is thank God the Barfly is still standing because if it weren’t then tonight would not have seen modern dance floor music makers Pistolas put on such a fantastic performance, nor indie stompers Some Velvet Morning who are first up on stage.
The three piece shake and glide through a set that opens up on a strong blues note with a song that’s upbeat and gets the crowd moving before they break into a few lines of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back To Black’ and crash straight on into a more indie sounding number. Although there are a few slower songs that bring down the set a little Some Velvet Morning pull out all the stops for the last few tunes which move back towards the jangly guitars and stomping drums beats of earlier tracks – topped off with vocals that are reminiscent of the Police to give a slightly different edge to their sound and bring what is in essence a good set from a promising band to a close.
Listening to Pistolas on the other hand is rather like listening to a band punch their way to the centre of the dance floor and they demand that everyone look at them as they play ‘Dinosaurs’, a fast and furious number with a brilliant chant- “The roof, the roof, the roof is one fire/But we don’t want no water ‘cause we want it to burn”. Despite the efforts of their energetic and enthusiastic frontman constantly encouraging the room to move and whilst they receive a great response after each song, there is reluctance by the crowd to really loosen up and dance around.
But Pistolas give it their all really throwing themselves into their music and playing some fantastic tunes before finishing with the synthed up disco punch of ‘Take It With A Kiss’ which earns them a well deserved round of rapturous applause- it’s just a shame that more people didn’t dance.