Kelly's Heels.JPG)
The Beat Rats (in the Cavern Pub).JPG)
The Beat Rats (in the Cavern Live Lounge).JPG)
Paul Bevoir.JPG)
The Cola Jet Set
The Method
The Hype.JPG)
The Twilight Birds
The Fast CamelsGIG: International Pop Overthrow Day 4
DATE: Friday 28th May 2010
VENUE: Cavern Pub and Cavern Club, Mathew Street, Liverpool
COST: it’s supposed to be all free but the Club was charging after 8pm)
RATING: Psyched out again (thanks to The Fast Camels)
LINKS:
www.myspace.com/internationalpopoverthrow.com
http://www.internationalpopoverthrow.com/
First the intro blurb and disclaimer…….International Pop Overthrow, organised by David Bash visits Liverpool every year, and puts on a fantastic free music festival for a whole week in the land of the The Beatles. It attracts Powerpop bands from all over Europe and the rest of the world (including this year, Japan, the USA and Canada). It is impossible to see every one of the bands as 3 stages are on the go simultaneously but we try to see as much as we can. We can’t promise to like all of the bands that play and certainly we will favour some over others, and indeed, some bands we like the sound of after checking them out on Myspace, may not be great performing live (and vice versa for that matter) but in this blog we offer our own personal opinion on the bands and the music we hear.
Day 4 started in the Cavern Club with Kelly’s Heels (www.myspace.com/kellysheels). The lunchtime crowd was not immense, but the band powered through a fab set of great pop. Kelly’s Heels have performed at many IPO’s, and being so established you know what to expect from them and they never fail to deliver – we swear they get better every time we see them. All 3 band members vocalise together so well, and they play such fantastic power pop tunes. Their set was paced just right and their final song ended with a crescendo of guitar and drums, it was amazing.
We took a bit of a break after this gig, and caught up with The Beat Rats a few hours later, in the Pub. The Beat Rats (www.myspace.com/beatrats) are from New York and are a true, genuine garage band. They kicked off with “The Beat Rats Theme”, which would be perfectly at home as the theme to a B Movie from the 60’s, and then totally blasted through a fantastic set. We debated on whether the lead singer was Frank Serpico or a good likeness to Charlie Manson but in the end, it was the music which won. This band was hot. They played at such a pace you didn’t have time to stop and catch your breath and the crowd that filled the Pub seemed to really enjoy it all. We were really pleased to hear that they had been asked to cover a vacant slot later that afternoon, so we had the chance to see them do it all again. In this 2nd slot, they were in the Cavern Live Lounge which gave them so much more room to jump around and the sound was so much better. We bought their CD which seems to have their whole set on it…12 songs in less then 30 mins!
We then went into the front stage to see Paul Bevoir (www.myspace.com/paulbevoirmusic) who breezed through a sunshiney pop set that captured the sun in the depths of the Cavern. He and his band (The Family Way) had a great audience and highlights for us were “Too Late Now” and his new song “The Living Kind”. With Paul’s music, you cannot help but start to tap your feet and bop on the spot and the great thing about this gig was that the drum beat (good though it was) did not drown out any of the vocals or other instruments. His final song was an old Jet Set one, which received a great round of applause. Minty was really thrilled with this performance. The the other good thing about Paul’s songs is that they all have that “Jim’ll Fix It” theme feel good vibe about the. You can’t help sing along with them.
Next up on the front stage were The Cola Jet Set (www.myspace.com/colajetset) who are Spain’s versions of the Shangri-las and The Cookies rolled into one. We did feel they had landed in the wrong country, as with it being Eurovision week, had these girls been in the competition, Spain would have won hands down, especially with all the key changes!. They were bubbly, did loads of hand claps, and smiled constantly while they sang (all in Spanish apart from one song). In fact they could have been singing about horror and murder and we would have been none the wiser! They filled the front stage and not just in terms of audience size, but also in terms of band size, being that there was 8 in all, including the guys paying guitars, drums and keyboards. They had a great girl group sound and the audience loved them.
We ventured into the Live Lounge and saw another Spanish band, The Corderoys. We wished we hadn’t! They took the mick a bit at the end of their set by saying “this is our last song” and as they ended that song, with David Bash ready to wrap up, they promptly started another song, saying that was in fact their last number!! There were quite a few other bands we’d rather have seen get an extra song in.
We stayed in the Live Lounge to see The Anydays, a mod band from Oxford. We were not overly impressed, especially when during the set up the lead singer, wearing dark sunglasses, had to lift them up to actually see what he was doing! There seems to be a recurrent theme here about bands and dark sunglasses…. It’s not cool guys. Not when it’s already dark! If you have to try and look cool…then you’re not.
We went off for something to eat, and returned to the Club about an hour later to find a band playing in the live lounge which did not seem to tally with the schedule. We found out later that the band were not actually on the bill and had basically gate crashed as they believed they were down to play!!!! That aside, they were actually quite good – The Method, form Cardiff, who had a very full band sound and included a trumpeter and a good front man who not only sang but who also played guitar and keyboard. They had a real tribal beat to their music and it sounded great.
Next up for us, was The Hype, a 5 piece from the Netherlands (www.myspace.com/thehypehaarlem) who included “The Mighty Quinn” in their set. They seemed to have their own media team and fan base, but it really was not needed as their set drew a really big crowd. They had great tunes and fab harmonies but sometimes took a bit too long in between songs to decide what was next!
In a bid to escape the next band up, Pearl, we retreated back to the Live Lounge and saw a band from Sweden, The Twilight Birds (www.myspace.com/twilightbirdssweden). This band was very experienced and they played a well put together set which went down a storm. They had more of an Americana thing about them rather than pop, and were not the usual Swedish offering we are accustomed to at the IPO.
We gave Karl Morgan & The Click a second chance, having seen them last year and not been overly impressed. They play some nice catchy numbers but the vocals are still just a wee but high. Indeed, one of our friends was asking if the lead was a girl or Bart Simpson!
We meandered through to the front stage after this and caught another Swedish band, called The Fuzzy Halo but they did not impress us at all, and we were just killing time until the next band hit the stage.
Our final band for the night was The Fast Camels (www.myspace.com/thefastcamels). This is a band we have seen many times before and never grow tired of. Their set is played at such a frenetic pace, it must be like running 2 marathons in succession! Tonight, despite the late hour, they played a blinder which included a couple of new tracks which captured their trademark psychedelic guitar playing and interwoven psychedelic sounds. Both front men, Drew and Mark, work brilliantly together. Mark does most of the lead and sometimes looks as if he’s not far from passing out he puts so much into it. The new songs sound like another classic album is on the way.
So, day 4 finished in the early hours, with us catching just 12 out of the 34 bands that were on stage. Roll on Day 5.
DATE: Friday 28th May 2010
VENUE: Cavern Pub and Cavern Club, Mathew Street, Liverpool
COST: it’s supposed to be all free but the Club was charging after 8pm)
RATING: Psyched out again (thanks to The Fast Camels)
LINKS:
www.myspace.com/internationalpopoverthrow.com
http://www.internationalpopoverthrow.com/
First the intro blurb and disclaimer…….International Pop Overthrow, organised by David Bash visits Liverpool every year, and puts on a fantastic free music festival for a whole week in the land of the The Beatles. It attracts Powerpop bands from all over Europe and the rest of the world (including this year, Japan, the USA and Canada). It is impossible to see every one of the bands as 3 stages are on the go simultaneously but we try to see as much as we can. We can’t promise to like all of the bands that play and certainly we will favour some over others, and indeed, some bands we like the sound of after checking them out on Myspace, may not be great performing live (and vice versa for that matter) but in this blog we offer our own personal opinion on the bands and the music we hear.
Day 4 started in the Cavern Club with Kelly’s Heels (www.myspace.com/kellysheels). The lunchtime crowd was not immense, but the band powered through a fab set of great pop. Kelly’s Heels have performed at many IPO’s, and being so established you know what to expect from them and they never fail to deliver – we swear they get better every time we see them. All 3 band members vocalise together so well, and they play such fantastic power pop tunes. Their set was paced just right and their final song ended with a crescendo of guitar and drums, it was amazing.
We took a bit of a break after this gig, and caught up with The Beat Rats a few hours later, in the Pub. The Beat Rats (www.myspace.com/beatrats) are from New York and are a true, genuine garage band. They kicked off with “The Beat Rats Theme”, which would be perfectly at home as the theme to a B Movie from the 60’s, and then totally blasted through a fantastic set. We debated on whether the lead singer was Frank Serpico or a good likeness to Charlie Manson but in the end, it was the music which won. This band was hot. They played at such a pace you didn’t have time to stop and catch your breath and the crowd that filled the Pub seemed to really enjoy it all. We were really pleased to hear that they had been asked to cover a vacant slot later that afternoon, so we had the chance to see them do it all again. In this 2nd slot, they were in the Cavern Live Lounge which gave them so much more room to jump around and the sound was so much better. We bought their CD which seems to have their whole set on it…12 songs in less then 30 mins!
We then went into the front stage to see Paul Bevoir (www.myspace.com/paulbevoirmusic) who breezed through a sunshiney pop set that captured the sun in the depths of the Cavern. He and his band (The Family Way) had a great audience and highlights for us were “Too Late Now” and his new song “The Living Kind”. With Paul’s music, you cannot help but start to tap your feet and bop on the spot and the great thing about this gig was that the drum beat (good though it was) did not drown out any of the vocals or other instruments. His final song was an old Jet Set one, which received a great round of applause. Minty was really thrilled with this performance. The the other good thing about Paul’s songs is that they all have that “Jim’ll Fix It” theme feel good vibe about the. You can’t help sing along with them.
Next up on the front stage were The Cola Jet Set (www.myspace.com/colajetset) who are Spain’s versions of the Shangri-las and The Cookies rolled into one. We did feel they had landed in the wrong country, as with it being Eurovision week, had these girls been in the competition, Spain would have won hands down, especially with all the key changes!. They were bubbly, did loads of hand claps, and smiled constantly while they sang (all in Spanish apart from one song). In fact they could have been singing about horror and murder and we would have been none the wiser! They filled the front stage and not just in terms of audience size, but also in terms of band size, being that there was 8 in all, including the guys paying guitars, drums and keyboards. They had a great girl group sound and the audience loved them.
We ventured into the Live Lounge and saw another Spanish band, The Corderoys. We wished we hadn’t! They took the mick a bit at the end of their set by saying “this is our last song” and as they ended that song, with David Bash ready to wrap up, they promptly started another song, saying that was in fact their last number!! There were quite a few other bands we’d rather have seen get an extra song in.
We stayed in the Live Lounge to see The Anydays, a mod band from Oxford. We were not overly impressed, especially when during the set up the lead singer, wearing dark sunglasses, had to lift them up to actually see what he was doing! There seems to be a recurrent theme here about bands and dark sunglasses…. It’s not cool guys. Not when it’s already dark! If you have to try and look cool…then you’re not.
We went off for something to eat, and returned to the Club about an hour later to find a band playing in the live lounge which did not seem to tally with the schedule. We found out later that the band were not actually on the bill and had basically gate crashed as they believed they were down to play!!!! That aside, they were actually quite good – The Method, form Cardiff, who had a very full band sound and included a trumpeter and a good front man who not only sang but who also played guitar and keyboard. They had a real tribal beat to their music and it sounded great.
Next up for us, was The Hype, a 5 piece from the Netherlands (www.myspace.com/thehypehaarlem) who included “The Mighty Quinn” in their set. They seemed to have their own media team and fan base, but it really was not needed as their set drew a really big crowd. They had great tunes and fab harmonies but sometimes took a bit too long in between songs to decide what was next!
In a bid to escape the next band up, Pearl, we retreated back to the Live Lounge and saw a band from Sweden, The Twilight Birds (www.myspace.com/twilightbirdssweden). This band was very experienced and they played a well put together set which went down a storm. They had more of an Americana thing about them rather than pop, and were not the usual Swedish offering we are accustomed to at the IPO.
We gave Karl Morgan & The Click a second chance, having seen them last year and not been overly impressed. They play some nice catchy numbers but the vocals are still just a wee but high. Indeed, one of our friends was asking if the lead was a girl or Bart Simpson!
We meandered through to the front stage after this and caught another Swedish band, called The Fuzzy Halo but they did not impress us at all, and we were just killing time until the next band hit the stage.
Our final band for the night was The Fast Camels (www.myspace.com/thefastcamels). This is a band we have seen many times before and never grow tired of. Their set is played at such a frenetic pace, it must be like running 2 marathons in succession! Tonight, despite the late hour, they played a blinder which included a couple of new tracks which captured their trademark psychedelic guitar playing and interwoven psychedelic sounds. Both front men, Drew and Mark, work brilliantly together. Mark does most of the lead and sometimes looks as if he’s not far from passing out he puts so much into it. The new songs sound like another classic album is on the way.
So, day 4 finished in the early hours, with us catching just 12 out of the 34 bands that were on stage. Roll on Day 5.
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