INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW LONDON DAY 2

GIG: International Pop Overthrow – London Day 2
DATE:: Saturday 25th May 2012
VENUE: The Bull & Gate, Kentish Town Road, Kentish Town, London
COST: £7
OUR VERDICT: No Slowin’ Down

Following the Liverpool week, International Pop Overthrow moves to London. Just one stage this time and 21 bands, again ranging from solo acts with an acoustic guitar to full on rock bands covering different music styles form folk, pop, rock and everything in between!!!!
Whilst we do try to see all of the bands, it is not always possible. Some of the bands / artists just aren’t our cup of tea, some are good and some are just pure nuggets and our blog is a personal account of what we thought of each day, highlights and lowlights included.


We made sure we were at The Bull & Gate for the kick off, as Canadian band Clockwise were first on the bill. This is another band we have seen a number of times at the Liverpool IPO and this was their first outing to the London event.
Tonight we heard a couple of new songs which sounded great. One of them, Jason the bass player did a kind of slow motion set of moves which looked really good and the lead guitarist could have given Slash a run for his money. “Boomtown” was included in the set and they finished on “Rich & Famous” which went down really well with the small but very appreciative audience. A great start to night number two.

CLOCKWISE

Next up a young and (we think) a fairly new band called BordeauXXX, with the 3 x’s stressed at every opportunity they got!!! They were a bit all over the place in terms of the rhythm in each of their songs, changing the rhythm a few times during each number, but the hand claps were good!

Spygenius were up next, another band we’ve seen on a number of occasions and tonight they were very tight, vocals spot on, we could hear the keyboard and the jingly jangly Italis 12 string guitar was in fine tune. Last year’s absent friends were not so absent and just as the band kicked off their set, a group of young Hong Kong tourists came into the club, and sat down on the floor in front of the stage in a very orderly formation. This boosted the audience numbers further and they really seemed to get into this band. With the most excellent “Surf” rounding off their set, we felt this was the best gig we had seen from Spygenius – nice one.

SPYGENIUS

The Penguin Party is a band we recognise from the IPOs but strangely, we have never actually caught any of their gigs. We would describe this band as being formed by a Goth, a Hippy, a Surfer and a drummer! They have a great Ska sound, reminiscent of The Specials with a bit of Mod mixed in (at one stage we heard a touch of the drum beat in the Jam’s “Eton Rifles”), and a touch of pop to round things off. This is a band with a sense of humour as they took the mickey out of one another’s choice of wardrobe, and they went down really well with the audience. Clever and funny songs...the singer was a Lee Mack look-a-like! We liked them.

PENGUIN PARTY

We missed the next band as we caught up with Dave Rave who had dropped by and Clockwise’s bass player, Jason and his lovely wife Grace in the bar outside.

The next band after that was The Standards. We had seen this band in Liverpool and had seen on a Facebook post that they were going to do something different tonight. And they did! Instead of the three-piece we saw in Liverpool, tonight was a two-piece. The set started with keyboard and guitar and sounded terrific. Then the guy playing the keyboard took up his rightful place behind the drumkit and the rest of the set was taken up a notch and was just totally superb. Their last song was “Slow Down” which was just phenomenal and Minty raced off to get their CD from the merch table. We’ve played it since and really loved it, “Slow Down” is a real stand out song.

THE STANDARDS

Minty hadn’t been well all week, so after The Standards we called it a night, said our farewells and headed home. Unfortunately this was our last night for us, as the work rosta doesn’t really allow for late nights on a Sunday, so we missed night number 3.

THE HONG KONG CROWD

INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW - LONDON DAY 1

GIG: International Pop Overthrow – London Day1
DATE: Friday 25th May 2012
VENUE: The Bull & Gate, Kentish Town Road, Kentish Town, London
COST: £7
OUR VERDICT: Join the Carnival

Following the Liverpool week,  International Pop Overthrow moves to London. Just one stage this time and 21 bands, again ranging from solo acts with an acoustic guitar to full on rock bands covering different music styles form folk, pop, rock and everything in between!!!!
Whilst we do try to see all of the bands, it is not always possible. Some of the bands / artists just aren’t our cup of tea, some are good and some are just pure nuggets and our blog is a personal account of what we thought of each day, highlights and lowlights included.


Our London IPO kicked off with band four, The Cherry Bluestorms who had travelled all the way from Los Angeles to play at both Liverpool and London (and a gig in Camden Town’s Dublin Castle). The Cherry Bluestorms are a great psychedelic rock band, who look the part and sound fantastic. Deborah Gee, as the front woman glided around the stage, playing tambourine and finger cymbals whilst delivering some great vocals that blended with the psychedelic guitar. Kicking off with a Beatles number, we then heard some songs from the album we have and were also treated to some new songs which sounded superb.
Glen on guitar is a major vintage gear aficionado. You get the feeling the band would step up a gear if he was let loose with his own equipment.

The Cherry Bluestorms

Ben Jones and The Rifle Volunteers, are headed by Ben Jones (from the Lovedays, a band we saw a couple of years ago in Liverpool IPO) who is a man comfortable with being at the head of a band. Playing a lovely looking white archtop, which gave a full powerpop sound, we heard a great set of songs sung by Ben, complimented very nicely by the girl on backing vocals. They stormed through their set, with some really punchy numbers. For the final song, the backing vocalist took the lead and they ended with rapturous applause from everyone in the club. And we got a couple of Ben Jones' CD' because we were so impressed!

Ben Jones & The Rifle Volunteers

If The Last Carnival don’t hit the big time, the world will be robbed of a great band. This five piece is headed by a really charismatic lead singer/guitarist who is not only a great singer, but has great rapport with the other guitarist. Between them, you know they know how to work a crowd, but they were up against it tonight with a small audience in the club. No-one felt confident enough to step from the shadows and sing along…….until The Beeb flexed his muscles and got up on the stage to do the “Oh Oh Oh Oh” backing, that is. The song sounded great and when the Beeb improvised at the end with substituting the “Oh Oh Oh Oh’s” with “Andy Warhol” the look on the guitarist’s face was a picture….. somehow they might steal that idea!  We learned that the band are at the moment recording with the McFly/Pixie Lott/Hoosiers producer, so he will know what a hit is made of. Fingers crossed we see much more from The Last Carnival.

The Beeb adds a bit of backing for The Last Carnival

Last on tonight’s bill were firm favourites of ours, The Soundcasters. Included in their set were some of the songs we have grown to love, such as “Pauline” and their pop/ska sound really gets you tapping your feet. A highlight from their set was “Just A Gigolo”, which was new for them, but you would think they have played it for years, it sounded perfect. The audience loved it. There was a fair sized crowd in the Bull & Gate, and demanded more, so they were able to play an encore and we were treated to “French Habit”. A great end to the night.

The Soundcasters

The Beeb meets The Cherry Bluestorms

INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW - DAY 6

GIG: International Pop Overthrow – Day 6
DATE:: Sunday 20th May 2012
VENUE: The Cavern Pub
COST: all free
OUR VERDICT: Close Harmony

The International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool hosts over 150 artists, across 5 stages, ranging from solo acts with an acoustic guitar to full on rock bands covering different music styles form folk, pop, rock and everything in between!!!!
During our time at the festival, we can’t see every artist / band, but we do aim to see as many as we can. Some of the bands / artists just aren’t our cup of tea, some are good and some are just pure nuggets and our blog is a personal account of what we thought of each day, highlights and lowlights included.

Day six was a short day for us, as today we were heading home.  But we couldn’t leave Liverpool without spending an hour in the company of friends, watching and listening to a couple of Beach Boys & surf inspired bands.

Surfs Up, an eleven piece including keyboard, saxophones and flutes, tambourine, a great falsetto and some harmonious backing vocals, spilled from the Pub stage onto the floor. It is unusual for a covers band to grace the stage of the IPO and this group gave us a whole set of Beach Boys numbers, from “Wild Honey”, through to “Good Vibrations” and a medley of some songs the average Beach Boys appreciator may not recognise, including “Keepin’ The Summer Alive” and a bit of the brand new Beach Boys song “That’s Why God Made The Radio”.  A healthy crowd was in the pub, enjoying the harmonies and really seemed to appreciate this group. Whilst we do prefer hearing original material during the IPO, Surfs Up were pretty good and hit the mark with the audience.

We had enjoyed the falsetto and Brian Wilson inspired harmonies from The Sunny Boys last night, that we caught their second slot. It was lovely to listen to their songs, being very close to a Brian Wilson composition without being a direct copy of The Beach Boys. They had a really full, summery sound, and we loved them. Once again they included the song about surfing in the snow, with the refrain from “My Sharona”. These guys are really good.


It was really nice that The Beat Rats all appeared in the pub to say goodbye before we left. Big hugs all round...and a promise to get back to New York City ASAP!

After that, we had to hit the road.

Until next year…….

The Stats

Total number of bands seen today = 2
Number of bands seen more than once today = 0

Overall

Total number of bands seen = 54
Number of bands seen more than once during the IPO = 6

INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW - DAY 5

GIG: International Pop Overthrow – Day 5
DATE:: Saturday 19th May 2012
VENUE: Erics, The Cavern Pub & The Cavern Club (Front & Live Lounge)
COST: £2 after 2pm in the Club
OUR VERDICT: Rats rule again

The International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool hosts over 150 artists, across 5 stages, ranging from solo acts with an acoustic guitar to full on rock bands covering different music styles form folk, pop, rock and everything in between!!!!
During our time at the festival, we can’t see every artist / band, but we do aim to see as many as we can. Some of the bands / artists just aren’t our cup of tea, some are good and some are just pure nuggets and our blog is a personal account of what we thought of each day, highlights and lowlights included.

Day five started for us in the Cavern pub, with those crazy Beat Rats (www.facebook.com/pages/THE-BEAT-RATS/8583688585 doing what they do best – rockin’ and shakin’ the stage.

The Beat Rats

They were on fire and no amount of water would have dampened their enthusiasm, energy or passion for playing their great Mersey rock. In fact, the Mersey runs through their veins. For a Saturday lunchtime the pub was pretty full and the reception from the audience was great. One thing we like about this band is that they don’t need any effects to get their sound…… it is raw rock and roll at its finest. We saw a tuning pedal on the floor..that was it!

The Beat Rats

Their set, much like the night before included their “Beat Rats Theme”, “She’s Mine All Mine”, “Thunderella” and the new song, “You Were Always Mine” that is on the Cavern Comp, “Cavern Retro”.

The set was being filmed by the Cavern so there is every chance we’ll see some footage of the gig as well J. After the set, you could hear people who were in the audience remarking on how great they were. Another triumphant result..New York City 4, Liverpool won!

Honeybug

We had a terrible clash today, with Honeybug opening their stint at the IPO at the same time the Beat Rats were playing. So we hurried across the Cavern Club, Front Stage and thankfully things were running a little late which meant we managed to catch four songs from Honeybug’s set. It was the same set up as last year, and with only the piano for accompaniment, the vocals had the chance to really stand out, and they did just that. Ni was on fine form and the backing from Laura and Erin was just totally lush. The Club seemed busier that you might expect at a Saturday early afternoon and the good thing is that people were staying to listen.

Mini

London band Mini were up next, this being their 9^th year at the IPO, they are complete veterans now! The first five songs in their set were new tunes, really great pop songs which down a storm. Fingers crossed they will get in the studio to record them….. The last bit of their set were a couple of older songs, before they invited Honeybug up to help out on their last song of the day, and as Minibug, they did a cover. They never fail to deliver a great show. Camaraderie..that's what the IPO is all about.

Minibug

The rest of the day was spent finding out about bands we really knew nothing about, so we were really going in blind. Up on the back stage was Fifty Nine Violets, as we said, we knew nothing about them and took a chance with. They were not too bad at all, quite rock orientated and seemed to enjoy playing their set. Nothing really stand out in terms of songs, but quite watchable and listenable.

Heading out to the pub, we stopped by the Front Stage and caught a bit of The Dirty Royals. When we saw their set up, we wished we had stopped by sooner……. The set up was similar to that of a couple of years ago when an accident meant their drummer could not join the band and the remaining members had to do an acoustic set. This year it was the bass guitar and two acoustics, and some terrific harmonies going on. Nice one lads.

Over at the pub, another band we knew nothing of, The Travellers. Ever inquisitive we thought we’d give them a go. This is a duo, advertised as being from France (but the guy playing the guitar sounded cockney!) who appeared to be trying to set up some kind of backing tape machine. When they eventually got going, the female singer hadn’t even bothered to take off her coat, and when we heard a drum machine in backing to the guitar and vocals we thought it was a bit karaoke and left in search of a live band.

The Q

We found that live band in Erics. The Q are a great Mod influenced band, who emulate Secret Affair, and could give Paul Weller a run for his money. The lead singer could have been Trigger’s brother and delivered some great vocals and at times there a bit of 3-piece harmony going on. The drummer was very good, and kept that Mod vibe going throughout. Certainly worth catching, and another CD in the bag for us.





We had been disappointed on Wednesday when Elgazelle had not been able to play their slot and were thrilled to find out that they were in Liverpool for their slot today. This band is quite amazing, with a fantastic Northern Soul vibe, a great gravelly voice from the lead man (while playing marraccas and occassional harmonica), a trumpet player and some great guitar and drums. We loved them last year and they were smokin’ hot today. Loved them.

Elgazelle

Over in the Cavern Club Live Lounge, The Lightwings were half way through their set. This four-piece had a bright pop sound and we kicked ourselves for not getting across to the club sooner.

The LBC Collective

The LBC Collective were a mix of Mod and soul/motown. One of their songs “Lay You Down” was a tad slower than the rest of the set and had a good bass line and smooth, quite motown sounding vocals. The rest of their set quite rocked, and they had a great vibe about them. Yet another CD in the bag (although we did give a donation at the merch table for it).

The Upper Fifth

The Upper Fifth did a great cover of “Pleasant Valley Sunday” in  quite a mod style which sounded great. Besides that, they played a frenetic set, with a drummer who would give Animal from The Muppets a run for his money (even though he kept getting cramp!). The keyboard player was really getting into things too. He came across as the real visual guy to watch. Totally into it. Not bad at all.





The Sunny Boys (www.thesunnyboys.com) from Torino, Italy had a dream come true playing The Cavern and it showed in their performance where they gave it their all, and hopped around the stage like crazy with big cheesy grins on their faces!!! This is a band quite well known in Italy for being a great Beach Boys tribute band, and tonight in the Cavern we heard their original stuff, and it was really pretty good too. The songs were unique enough not to be copies of Beach Boys songs but still had that great falsetto, backing harmony and a real summery sound. A highlight for us was a surf song about snow, which morphed into the Knack’s “My Sharona” at the end and it worked really well. The audience loved this band, and the rapturous applause and cheers prompted David Bash to invite them back for an encore. They obliged and we got a great rendition of the Beach Boys “Fun, Fun, Fun”. Brilliant. They won EVERYONE over with their verve and enthusiasm.

The Sunny Boys

The Housekeeping Society

After popping out for a bite to eat, we returned as The Housekeeping Society were setting up. It took a while to get the instruments plugged in and working, but when they did we heard some great vocals from front man, Ric Neale singing songs from his latest project called “Postcards” which is a series of songs about the seaside. We weren’t too sure about the pre-programmed drum and the mic on the guitarist was way too low when he took the lead on some songs which was a shame as we could hardly hear him.



The last band for us tonight was Leicester based The Junipers. We have seen them a couple of times before and they are a band we enjoy watching and listening to. The debut album is a fave of The Beeb's. Theirs is a mix of pop and psychedelic songs with some lovely vocal arrangements. The main man, Joe Wiltshire, had an array of guitars to suit all of the styles they played, including a double necked guitar which provided the necessary 12 string sound for their psychedelic melodies. They did sound great and that was yet another CD in the bag for us.

The Junipers

 The Stats
Total number of bands seen today = 14
Number of bands seen more than once today = 0

Overall

Total number of bands seen = 53
Number of bands seen more than once during the IPO = 5

INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW - DAY 4

GIG: International Pop Overthrow – Day 4
DATE:: Friday 18th May 2012
VENUE: Erics, The Cavern Pub & The Cavern Club (Front & Live Lounge)
COST: All free (as we were in the Club before 8pm)
OUR VERDICT: Rats are Cookin’

The International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool hosts over 150 artists, across 5 stages, ranging from solo acts with an acoustic guitar to full on rock bands covering different music styles form folk, pop, rock and everything in between!!!!
During our time at the festival, we can’t see every artist / band, but we do aim to see as many as we can. Some of the bands / artists just aren’t our cup of tea, some are good and some are just pure nuggets and our blog is a personal account of what we thought of each day, highlights and lowlights included.

Day four started for us in the Cavern pub, with a band we knew nothing about, The Seasongs, form Spain. It was an early start to the day and audience numbers were very thin until they were near the end of their set. Writing this a couple days after the event, we must admit there was nothing really memorable about The Seasongs – it was a  typical four-piece set up and songs that were not much different to any average powerpop band.

Steed

Dutch band Steed were up next, all similarly dressed in charcoal grey drainpipes and white boots. They had brought along some friends so the audience numbers swelled and they powered through their set, of quite punchy songs with strong backing vocals adding a lot of harmony and strength. Their drummer was part of the next band, The Treets (also from Holland) who played a really tight set. The lead guitarist stood out for us, and The Beeb really appreciated the surf inspired numbers.

The Treets

Jeremy’s first slot of the IPO was next on the Cavern Pub stage. Anyone who sees Jeremy will never forget his performance and today was no exception. He is a really extrovert performer who does his best to find new ways to launch himself from the stage into the audience. The pub is now quite Jeremy-proof although at one point he did clamber up onto the speakers, and another time onto a stool and look tantalisingly at the electric fan hanging from the ceiling!!! Andy the sound man just stood there grinning like a Cheshire cat. 

Jeremy wows the audience

Jeremy does bring his own style of powerpop – filled with messages of love and peace, and he performed some new songs from his latest album “Love Explosion”. Today he ventured into a kind of thrash metal genre, with really raw vocals, screaming guitar, playing amongst the audience and ending up in true rock & roll style, on the floor! He also gave us a bit of psychedelic sound with a track from an album done with his new project The Lemon Clock, making use of a loop pedal to give a great psychedelic overdub. He ended his energetic set with his surf medley which went down really well. Fantastic stuff, yet again from Mr Morris.




We popped over to the Cavern Club Live Lounge then to see another Spanish band – Noisebox. They were just that and we were not overly impressed with them at all. Following them was a Scandinavian combo, She Talks, which the IPO programme noted as having five members but only three were on stage. It took longer than usual to get them set up (2 acoustic guitars and a keyboard) and we suspect they may have been missing their two additional members. They had a sweet sound but in all honesty it was a tad too sweet for us.

NRWY

We took the opportunity to take a bit of time out at our hotel and headed back to the Cavern Club Live Lounge a couple of hours later for Norwegian band, NRWY. They were quite atmospheric with some good rocking crescendos – very listenable.





Next up in the Live Lounge were London three piece The Standards. They appeared to be a bit unsure at the start (we suspect they couldn’t hear the monitors sufficiently) but by the third song which we think was called “Slow Down” they were into their stride. That song had a terrific beat to it as a number of their other songs did.

The Standards

One song “Drowning” segued into a bit of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” which worked really well. We don’t know if that was always the case or just brought in specially following Donna Summer’s untimely demise this week. The vocals were good, a kind of Kinks meets Damon Albarn and we enjoyed this band.


Lights from Space took to the stage next – they had a great look, a great beat but we felt the vocals lacking a bit from what we heard of their set. It took a while for them to get set up so we did not get the chance to really get into their set as we had to dash across to Erics to see Lannie Flowers.

Lannie Flowers

The pedals

The tall Texan delivered some great powerpop. You could tell both him and his band were seasoned professionals, blending really well together and just reeling off the songs one after another. We loved the Texas heart and soul put into this performance and thoroughly enjoyed the set. The Beeb was mighty impressed with the array of pedals and had to get  a picture!

Junebug

The Cavern Pub had a full crowd for Junebug but the sheer number of people, and the crowd of drunken guys dancing and piling in for photos deterred us from staying too long. That was a real shame as Junebug were sounding particularly good tonight, doing what they do well – lovely little pop songs that you can’t help but tap your feet to.




Back to the Cavern Club and this time the Front Stage, and a German band called The Jooles. This was like watching Marsha Brady on speed, backed by others from the Brady Bunch!!!! (In a good way.)

The Jooles

They totally rocked the front stage, with some really high spirited, happy, energetic pop with some great girl harmonies. The audience was quite large and were going bonkers, the band looked like they were having a total blast on stage and the they were given the opportunity for a one song encore. They chose a cover of the Jackson 5's “I Want You Back” which went down a storm.  Loved it - another nugget at the IPO and another CD in the bag.

The Beeb with 2 of the Jooles

The Turnback

Staying with the Front Stage, The Turnback, form New York were up next. They played a solid set of rock/pop which made you wiggle on the bar stool!!! Not bad at all and the crowd really loved them.






Again, on the Front Stage, the next band up really made us stand up and take note – The Pengwins from Texas. This was a band formed in the late 70’s and included some of the guys from the Lannie Flowers gig, who we had seen earlier!

The Pengwins

They kicked off with a fab rendition of “Route 66” just to warm up the large crowd that had gathered, filling the whole of the Front Stage area, right the way to the back. This is a superb band, and even the drummer sings! Their set was not all covers but we have to mention an acapella version of the first bit from the Beach Boys hit “Cottonfields” which led straight into a real Texas country beat for two Johnny Cash songs, and the guy singing had the same dulcet deep country tone as JC himself. Superb again!
Next on the set was Lannie with a song about “Everyman For Himself” and the backing harmonies were out of this world. They also did a terrific version of the Flaming Groovies’ “Shake Some Action” – talk about amazing, rocking Powerpop at its best. They finished with the Bowie/Mott The Hoople “All The Young Dudes”which, dare we say it, sounded better than Bowie, and which segued into a bit of “God Gave Rock and Roll To You”. Superb again! We LOVED this band and will be raving about them for some time to come!

The Honey Machine

From Germany, The Honey Machine were next up. Watching them was like being taken back to a German beat club, with a cross between Mick Jagger and Eric Burden doing the vocals who got our vote for the best Art Janov Primal Scream factor! They totally rocked and everyone in the club was dancing, which was brilliant to watch. They included a cover in their set “I Put A Spell On You” which sounded great, and if you closed your eyes you were transformed back to the 60’s. Brilliant stuff. 


And our night ended with one of the best bands we've ever seen, The Beat Rats, with their mischievous mix of short, punchy Mersey Beat influenced tunes done in the style of The Ramones. What an effect they had on the audience - everyone dancing and loving this band from the first chord being struck to the very last reverb of the night. Their energy knew no boundaries, and they were cooking without a doubt. They genuinely are the band born to play this front stage.

The Beat Rats Rock the Cavern

With a new album imminent, they played a few new numbers, including “You Were Always Mine” recently recorded for the Cavern Compilation, “Cavern Retro”. This was a fine tune, a bit slower than their usual beat, and had such an authentic Mersey sound we fell in love with it. The vocals were awesome. Everyone should see at least one show from the Beat Rats in their lifetime. Fantastic end to a great night at the IPO.

The Stats

Total number of bands seen today = 17

Number of bands seen more than once today = 0

Overall

Total number of bands seen = 41

Number of bands seen more than once during the IPO = 4

THE BEAT RATS & JEREMY

GIG: The Beat Rats & Jeremy
DATE: Thursday 17th May 2012
VENUE: The Lathom, Lathom Avenue, Seaforth
COST: £1
OUR VERDICT: totally rocked


The Lathom is a lovely venue, a short taxi ride from Liverpool city centre.What a pleasant surprise when we got there. The hall is filled with all sorts of rock and roll memorabilia. The club can even boast having the stage that The Beatles played on ten times before 1961. This is a great social club, which does a lot for charity (the artists appear for free and the door charge and raffle raises money for the charities they support).

Tonight their rock and roll party had some US interlopers! Jeremy from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and from New York, The Beat Rats.

Jeremy, with his son on acoustic guitar,  Todd Borsch on bass and a local lad on drums, gave us a set of good old rock and roll numbers, with some of his own sparkly pop tunes in between including “Highway to Heaven” and his latest “Love Explosion”. Jeremy is a great entertainer and his enthusiasm to delight the audience usually ends up with him doing an injury to himself. Tonight he was quite restrained, and limited himself to some guitar shredding and jumping around the stage (during which he broke his guitar strap!). What we got was some great rock and roll and Powerpop numbers which ended with a terrific version of “Twist and Shout” which went down very well with the audience.




Jeremy rocks the Lathom

The Beat Rats from New York, clad in their black leather, took command of the stage and after a quick tune up (“That’s close enough for rock & roll” they said), launched into their Beat Rats theme and then promptly stormed through their tunes in a gig reminiscent of Mersey Beat versus the Ramones. Their songs are short, very 60’s influenced and just rocked the house down. Their set included some of our firm favourites, such as “Thunderella” and “She’s Mine All Mine”. They were really on fire tonight and appeared to love being on the Lathom stage.

The Beats Rats rule the stage

They have recently recorded a new instrumental tune “Have Mersey” which includes a saxophone piece, played by Brian Jones of 60’s Mersey band, The Undertakers. Tonight, they played this instrumental and Brian Jones joined them on stage. You could tell the guys were chuffed and felt this was a great honour.

Brian Jones joins The Rats

If you ever get the chance to go to a gig in this venue…TAKE IT!

INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW DAY 3

GIG: International Pop Overthrow – Day 3
DATE:: Thursday 17th May 2012
VENUE: Erics & The Cavern Pub
COST: All free
OUR VERDICT: Short but good

The International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool hosts over 150 artists, across 5 stages, ranging from solo acts with an acoustic guitar to full on rock bands covering different music styles form folk, pop, rock and everything in between!!!!
During our time at the festival, we can’t see every artist / band, but we do aim to see as many as we can. Some of the bands / artists just aren’t our cup of tea, some are good and some are just pure nuggets and our blog is a personal account of what we thought of each day, highlights and lowlights included.

Day Three and it was a light day for us as we were heading out to Bootle to catch The Beat Rats. However we had some time to catch the bands scheduled early doors……..

Today, the festival was using Erics for the first time. And what a place this is... the stage is the original stage from way back when. The Sons had the honour of being the first IPO band to play this stage.


The Sons

The Sons (http://www.myspace.com/thesonsarealreet) are a five piece from Derby and they impressed us enough with the 3 songs we heard to buy their CD. They had some fantastic harmonies which washed over us and made us kick ourselves for being a bit late and not catching their set from the start. Immediately our feet were tapping to their catchy songs. Two of the band are The Herron Brothers, another great band (we saw them last year) who were on the bill today, and we were going to miss due to our trip out to Bootle.

Staying in Erics, Two Weeks Running were up next. They impressed us from the start as unlike other young bands, they knew their set, could end one song and go straight into another, and did not have to confer at the start of each song to determine which song was next and who was going to start it!!!!! This was a tight and professional young band.


Two Weeks Running

The drummer was very good and the backing vocals added from time to time, by the drummer and the bass player did compliment very nicely. Overall they had a good melody with some nice inter-changing guitar playing. Worthwhile watching and suited the stage at Erics.


Popping a couple of doors up the street, The Cavern Pub was hosting Rob Vincent.

Rob Vincent

The pub was packed and you were hard pushed to even find standing room! This was an interesting set up with a double bass and cello included in the line up. Theirs was a lovely melodic pop, with some beautiful harmonies from the keyboard player. Lovely stuff.

Our last band for this night was Richard Snow & The In Laws (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/richardsnow.mail). This is another band who has played at all the IPOs we've been to, and they are a firm favourite with us. Unfortunately the stage was running a bit behind schedule so we caught only on the first three songs before we had to leave, but we were pleased to hear “Stop Your Crying” which is a great toe tapping, pop song. The band did sound on great form and we were very reluctant to leave.

But off to Bootle we went.........



Richard Snow & The In Laws

The Stats

Total number of bands seen today = 4
Number of bands seen more than once today = 0

Overall

total number of bands seen = 25
Number of bands seen more than once during the IPO = 4

INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW DAY 2

GIG: International Pop Overthrow – Day 2
DATE:: Wednesday 16th May 2012
VENUE: The Cavern Pub & Cavern Club (Front Stage and Live Lounge)
COST: All free
OUR VERDICT: Alien Rock

The International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool hosts over 150 artists, across 5 stages, ranging from solo acts with an acoustic guitar to full on rock bands covering different music styles form folk, pop, rock and everything in between!!!!
During our time at the festival, we can’t see every artist / band, but we do aim to see as many as we can. Some of the bands / artists just aren’t our cup of tea, some are good and some are just pure nuggets and our blog is a personal account of what we thought of each day, highlights and lowlights included.

Day Two kicked off  in the Cavern Club Live Lounge with an act we had not intended to catch. From the blurb in the programme, We Are Alien (www.wearealienband.com) did not grab our attention but how different they were in real life!!! Expecting a folky/acoustic mum and daughter act, what we saw was a rock duo with enough punch and kick to orbit the Earth twice over!!!

We Are Alien

Mum on drums and a very confident daughter rocking her heart out on vocals and guitar, having the time of her life on stage. She had a lot of charisma on stage and you not help but to like her. All those hours practicing her rock chick poses in front of the bedroom mirror paid off. Joking aside, she's as natural a performer as we've ever seen at the IPO. After a real rocking time, they ended on a slow number which we felt was better placed elsewhere in the set, and they should have finished on what was actually the penultimate song – that would have left a great impression on the audience. That said, it was a great start to Day Two.

Fun Of the Pier

Next up, acoustic duo Fun Of The Pier, (www.facebook.com/#!/funofthepier) delivering some bright, breezy summery pop, singing of fun and being happy. The audience at this time of the afternoon was not huge, but they did clap loudly. This was the second year Fun Of The Pier has graced the IPO stage, and their confidence has grown immensely. Their set also included a song we empathised with totally – about people who rudely talk while bands play, and a great breezy cover of “Everybody’s Talking”. Nice set guys.


Taking the opportunity to grab a Starbucks, we got back to the Live Lounge just in time to catch Lincoln five-piece Postcards From Places That Don’t Exist (https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Postcards-from-places-that-dont-exist/142090075852986) They kicked off with a really rocking number and kept that pace up for their whole set. As each song ended, the applause seemed to be louder and louder.

Postcards From Places that Don't Exist

James is an excellent front man for the band, he had a good voice which at times sounded a bit like Lennon’s, and terrific backing vocals were delivered by the bass guitarist and drummer. It’s hard to describe their style – a bit Beatles influenced, a tad of the Searchers about them but in reality they have their own style which really rocked the back stage. Their set included three covers which reduced the amount of their own material showcased, but still it was a great thirty minute set, and their cover of "Stand By Me" was really, rather good.

The Grande

Across to the Cavern Pub and The Grande were setting up, sans Melissa and the lap steel guitar for this set. This is a well-established band, who have played the IPOs for as long as we can remember. Their set today was one of good solid country rock, including some numbers we recognise from previous IPOs and a cover from The Band in memory of Levon Helm. The pub was fairly packed and reacted well to this band. For their second slot, later in the week they have promised the full band line up, including Melissa on vocals and the lap steel guitar.

Ashbury Keys

Next up at the pub was our second opportunity to see Houston band Ashbury Keys (www.ashburykeys.com). Once again we saw a really energetic set of fantastic power pop music and the stand out song for us was “Hero”. The vocals were strong throughout the set (although a bit drowned out as the guitars were turned up for the last 2 songs), the guitar playing rocked, and the drums really banged out a great beat. They seemed really at home playing in Liverpool over the last couple of days and we are glad we caught them. We managed to listen to their EP in the hotel and it was great too.

Back across at the Cavern Club, front stage and Postcards from Places that Don’t Exist were back on the bill. Same set as earlier in the day and good to see it a second time.

Midnight Playground, on stage in the Cavern Pub was a gap-filler for us. A young local band, vocals completely drowned out by the guitars and the drum summed them up. We didn’t stay long!

We Are Alien

So, back to the Front Stage of the Club and we caught, once again, We Are Alien. You could see how excited they were at being on the front stage, and the daughter really engaged with the audience who really seemed to love the set. Her confidence seemed to have increased, being much more comfortable with the slower numbers, and they certainly rocked!




Next up, a four-piece from London, The Reflections (https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Reflections/194146040595598). These had a great 60’s vibe. The drummer was brilliant, with shadows of Hal Blaine throughout. The lead guitarist was a bit like Johnny Marr using gear from the Ventures! He had a great surf twang and reverb all through the set. The lead singer was expressive, and the backing vocals were so full, it was like all of the band were singing, but only two of them had mics. A highlight in their set was a song (we think was called)  “Last Exit To Brooklyn”. This was a very tight band, totally together and they stormed through their set with no interruptions. We liked them a lot, and took advantage of the fact they were giving their EP away as a freebie.

The Reflections

Norman Kelsey

Norman Kelsey (www.normankelsey.com) who had made the journey all the way from Los Angeles, was the next act up on the front stage. He is very soulful, just him and an acoustic guitar, and when he sang falsetto, there were hints of Prince and Smokey Robinson influences. He obviously loves sharing his music with everyone, but sometimes it was a battle over the audience background noise, a common conflict for acoustic performers at that time of night as the club starts to fill up. Norman was very engaging with his audience, and gave us an unplugged version of his newest single, "Your Majestic Rejection" which also sounds great,  and it was another couple of CDs in the bag for us.

The Merrylees

Through to the Live Lounge (Back Stage) and Edinburgh band The Merrylees were starting their psychedelic country & western set. Immediately we could see a bit of the Fast Camels about them  - the Gretsch guitars and the changing rhythm and tempo in the middle of songs were the give away here! We enjoyed their set but it was the Gretsch guitars that really made the sound for this band. Their final song was "Ghost Riders In the Sky" which was a great finish and left the audience cheering for more!

The Hacienda

Back to the front stage for our last band of the night, from Italy, The Hacienda. The front stage audience was filled with Italians, patiently waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the band to set up! Once the band got going, they got going…… at a frenetic pace, hardly stopping for breath as they powered through their set. The guitars drowned out any sound from the keyboard, and this was fast paced Italian pop!.



Exhausted, we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.
So ended night number two.

The Stats
Total number of bands seen today = 10
Number of bands seen more than once today = 2

Overall
Total number of bands seen = 21
Number of bands seen more than once during the IPO = 4