Deadbeat Promotions Present...


It’s an impressive sounding line up for Deadbeat’s second hosting of a live night and the size of the crowd is a reflection of this. Laura Lost are first up with a set that lacked any real diversity or depth. ‘Laura’ fronts the four piece and is clearly intended to be their ‘unique selling point’ – low-slung guitar, slightly sullen look on face, shouty, attitude-driven choruses. She is backed by a competent band who play with enthusiasm and look like they’re enjoying it, but I get the impression that they’re happy to sit back and play second fiddle to Laura. Which would be no bad thing if she delivered the sort of ballsy, untamed talent that her more successful ‘women in rock’ predecessors have proven is necessary for this sort of set up. But she doesn’t. The main problem is her voice – or lack of voice. Ok, it’s in tune, at times. But it has no power, a distinct lack of range and the supposed-to-be-attitude-fuelled choruses sound like a young girl whining feebly into a microphone. It all ends up as run-of-the-mill punk-pop-rock with no real edge to it at all. Dead!Dead!Dead! follow Laura Lost. Fresh from their second national tour, The Deads have obviously benefited from the intensity of the last year – their playing is slick and tight, they are a very well accomplished unit and this gives them room, musically, to move around and give everything that little extra touch of Dead magic. They deliver their catchy, quirky rocky tunes with vibrancy and panache. Performing live, they easily do their songs justice, with lead singers Neil and Matt parrying their vocals perfectly, working their voices knowledgably within their range. The drumming is absolutely spot on too and Dead!Dead!Dead! end their set to a deservedly fervent reception from the crowd. We caught up with the band before the gig to talk about their recent tour, song writing, breaking guitars and stealing families to get gigs. You can read the full interview here. I’ve seen headliners Fleeing New York a few times previously, but never felt that I could make a good judgement of them, for various reasons. I was a fan of their track from the SouthScene CD – ‘Oh My God’. They have also, judging by their website, had a decent response from various ‘big hitters’ in the National press. You may wonder why I am setting the scene so precisely here. Well I’ll tell you – I was distinctly underwhelmed by them. And I didn’t come to that conclusion lightly. The thing is, they tick a lot of boxes. They look good on stage – comfortable, enigmatic. They are all obviously proficient musicians. There’s a lot about them to like but when it comes down to one of the most important things about music, they don’t cut it. It’s songs I’m talking about, mainly. Tunes. Decent, stand-out songs. For the majority of the set, they fail to deliver. They can do it – encore number (and current single) ‘Hollywood Bowl’ is a good song. Catchy, immediately sing-alongable. But that’s it really. I find myself thinking that it’s a bit of a shame – I want to like them. Maybe they come across better on record. They certainly have ‘something’ but, unfortunately, I haven’t seen it yet.