Tonight's crowd are a mixed bunch: retro hipsters sporting outrageous lapels and lethal winkle pickers, ordinary joes in tank tops and jeans, and Japanese girls shyly sipping their drinks in anticipation of some old school garage rock. The latter are presumably here to see Mando Diao, the Swedish breakthroughs taken on by EMI Music, who have acquired a large fan-base in Japan while steadily making inroads on the European circuit since their 2002 debut album 'Bring ‘Em In'. Singer/guitarist Gustaf Norén has described going to one of their gigs as being similar to a religious experience, and naturally we are keen to see whether they do indeed rock with God on their side.
But first up are The Seen. These London circuit stalwarts have been around for a good few years now, and have used that time well to hone their particular brand of psychedelic funk. The singer, a cross between a 90s baggy Mancunian frontman and Steppenwolf-style highway-hitting rocker, prances languidly about the cramped stage and croons distantly into the mic as the bass player lays down a series of agile runs. This lays the foundations for the guitarist, who offers up a tasty mixture of chordal licks and funky riffs through his cranked Epiphone, with a little help from a neat flanger effect that helps to coin the band’s sound. The drums are tight and energetic; clipped rolls complement the other half of the rhythm section and keep the tunes driving.
Going for more of a groove and an ambient sound rather than anthemic songwriting, The Seen certainly appear to have it sussed as a live act. Whether they can translate this into the recording studio remains to be seen. Watch this space? At any rate, they leave the audience hanging out for more.
Which is where Mando Diao are supposed to come in. Sad to say, the boys from Sweden don’t deliver on the night. For starters, someone ought to tell them that over here the whole ‘start the gig with your backs to the audience before turning round to sing into the mic thing is definitely not cool – and probably never has been. Then there are the tunes themselves, mostly a stodgy affair of archetypal garage rock, only without the indefinable flair that made it work so well for bands like the Stooges and the Velvet Underground. In present-day terms, the Kings of Leon do the same kind of thing much better, and even Kasabian have hit this spot a lot harder.
In fairness, energy and attitude are not weak points for Mando Diao, but the songs just don’t match up. This is a shame, because their website has some decent singles on it; but for some reason these are woefully neglected tonight. The only one that gets played at all is 'Sheepdog', with which they finish off the set. God Knows, the single from 'Hurricane Bar', their latest album, is noticeable only by its absence. No doubt Mando Diao have potential, but if they are to harness it they will certainly need to go away and work on their riffing a bit. The best rock ‘n’ roll is meant to be simple, but not simplistic, surely?
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