INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW LIVERPOOL - DAY 2 (WEDS)

GIG: International Pop Overthrow Liverpool – Day 2
DATE: Wednesday 15th May 2013
VENUE: Cavern Pub & Club, Mathew Street, Liverpool
COST: It’s all free
OUR VERDICT: The calm before the storm

This is blog is intended to be a way for us to capture our personal memories from all the gigs we go to see. The International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool hosts over 130 artists, across 3 stages, ranging from solo acts with an acoustic guitar to full on rock bands covering different music styles from folk, pop, rock and everything in between!!!! Whilst we can’t see every artist / band, we try to catch as many as we can. Some we like, some we love, some are pure nuggets and some are just not our cup of tea. This is just our personal opinion of the acts we see through the IPO festival, highlights and lowlights included. If there’s a band we are not fond of, do still check them out as tastes differ and you could have a different opinion from us.


We we eased into Day two very gently, our IPO starting with the second act on the bill at the Cavern Pub. Already the Pub was running late and by the time John Cee Stannard was set up and ready to go, the day was twenty five minutes behind schedule. With backing tracks cued up (his band was not joining him today), his set started. It wasn’t a bad set but we are not really keen on the idea of backing tracks being used. If the full band is not available to play, we usually experience a stripped down performance and to be honest, this would probably have worked here, today.

Fun Of The Pier with David Lloyd helping out

Next up, Nottingham duo Mark and Helen who perform as Fun Of The Pier. The acoustic bass gave the rhythm for Helen’s sweet vocals to sing some bright and breezy songs about being happy, the sun and no clouds in the sky. David Lloyd from Liverpool band The Suns joined the duo on stage for two songs, and added a lot of depth to the acoustic sound. Listening to them was a nice, gentle breaking in of the day.

The Jooles had an extra slot today as a band couldn’t perform due to illness, and we were pleased to experience their set again. With the stage in the Pub, you can see the drummer and it was great to see Richard behind the drum kit today – he was loving every minute of it. “Crush On A Girl” sounds better every time we hear it, and we noticed a great wee vocal arrangement going on from all four members of the band. They really do have a great soul, jazz funk kind of sound which the bass guitar really brought out, especially on “Break Up Song” which also includes a guitar vibe reminiscent of old 70’s TV Cop show themes and a fantastic drum beat.

Daria from The Jooles in full swing

We dashed across to the Cavern Club at this stage and caught the last part of the performance from Boomin’, a young band that can best be described as a cross between Busted, McFly and Green Day. This trio oozed personality and could be destined for bigger things. Their energy was unbelievable, the bass player was a bit of a joker, their songs full of guitar and some great backing vocals from the drummer. We hope we’ll be able to catch their second slot.

Boomin' in action

We wandered through to the Live Longe and David Bash was introducing The Most, from Sweden. In our IPO planning we had this band marked as one to catch due to their mod beat sound. The Most is a foursome, with mophead haircuts (although one looked like Joey Ramone), unusual guitars, and really catchy pop songs. They played a fast paced set, full of great beats and hooks. The crowd really loved them and David summed up their style as “awesome mod, authentic beat music”. He has hit the nail on the head with that description. A great set and we look forward to catching them again.

The Most



David Loyd and The Suns

Back to the Cavern Pub for Liverpool’s own The Suns. This is a trio we really like, led by David Lloyd who delivered a mix of up tempo songs and some a bit more laid back. Most songs had a crunchy sounding guitar, David's beloved Gibson SG, which at times was just that little too loud, drowning David’s vocal. We have to blame the sound man for this though. When you did hear it, his vocals were strong and very tuneful. With an EP just about to be released and older material about to re-released, we think we are going to be spoiled when we get our ears around those.

After a bite to eat, we were back in the Club and saw Peter Marchant on the Front Stage The name is mis-leading as this is not a solo artist, but a four piece band with the lead switching between a Brian May type guitar and keyboard. His vocal was something else, able to perform vocal gymnastics with no effort at all! They sang their new single which is out in June – we don’t know the name of it, but it sounded really great, with a tribal, pounding drum beat throughout. They also did a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” which sounded pretty good, but lacked a bit on the backing vocals which would really have enriched it. But we did enjoy this performance.

Peter Marchant

Back into the Live Lounge to see The Jooles once again. This was the second time today and the third time in total! They played a blinder on the backstage, and the sound was great. Just imagine Marsha Brady running away to join a rock band, and that is the singer in the band – a rock chick but with the wholesome look!. Swirling her long hair, shaking her hips, occasionally shaking a tambourine, grinning from ear to ear, she belts out the songs and looks totally at home doing this. The backing vocals from the other three members of the band are great, and the jazz-funk bassline, the mad drumming add to the package. The audience tonight loved them. As far as fronting a band goes, Daria is up there with the best of them without a doubt.

The Jooles rock the back stage

After that we decided to call it a night, knowing that the next few days are going to be long and late!

Statistics:

No of bands seen today = 7
No of bands seen more than once today
No of different bands seen so far = 17
Total No of bands seen more than once = 3

Top band today...The Jooles
Performance of the day... Boomin’ on the Front Stage