GIG: International Pop
Overthrow
DATE: Thursday 14th
May 2015
VENUE: The Cavern Pub
and Club
COST: £4 after 8pm in
the Club
OUR VERDICT: A bit of
Wylde Mod and Ska
This
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
around 140 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!!!! 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.
Bands seen today = 9
The Remington,
Betamotion, The Herron Brothers, Thee Wylde Fuzz Show (twice), The Reflections,
Watchtower (twice), Donkey Hot Pink, The Backlash, RAF
Number of bands seen in
the IPO so far = 27
CDs:
Thee Wylde Fuzz
Show Single, Betamotion.
 |
| The Remington ( in The Club) |
Day number 3……kicked off
for us with the second act on the bill, from Italy The Remington. The programme
says this band is a quintet, but today we got a trio. Their songs were very
good, and the lead singer sounded a bit like John Hiatt at times, and was also a great guitar
player. The drumming was colourful, with the drummer giving it some serious
welly behind the kit and every song sounding different. As a trio they were
great, and we wonder what the five piece would sound like.
After completing
their playlist, they still had some spare time so we got an impromptu Woody
Guthrie cover. We had considered getting their CD, but at £10 felt it a bit
overpriced. We did also catch the tail end of their next slot over in the Cavern Club.
 |
| Betamotion |
Betamotion are a trio and
this was a “filler” for us. We were actually pleasantly surprised with them.
Their set started with some pre-recorded voice-overs at the start of the first
few songs which we initially thought “oh oh” but each song had a great beat to
it and each took twists and turns and
sometimes was mashed with bits of well-known hits, such as Bowie’s “All The
Young Dudes”, The Doors “Light My Fire” and “Eleanor Rigby”. The guy on lead
vocal was extremely strong with a terrific range and they did
sound great.
 |
| The Herron Brothers |
Derby boys, The Herron
Brothers were up next. This duo sound very like Crowded House, with two vocals
blended together over two acoustic guitars. It was nice to see Fun of The Pier
singing along too. Their set appeared to be fairly spontaneous, and they were
up against a rather noisy pub crowd this evening. Hats off to their unique
re-marketing idea for their album (recorded 4 years ago) – Marmite Jars
containing a USB stick with the album on it.
Thee Wylde Fuzz Show
features Jonny who has appeared at previous IPO’s with his old band The Ace.
This new band is a mix of psychedelic, mod and garage. We saw both of their
sets today, each was different apart from the two common songs that make up their
CD single and was a mix of original material and a few covers, but these were mostly obscure
and they fit in with the band’s sound seamlessly.
 |
| Thee Wylde Fuzz in The Cavern Pub |
 |
| Thee Wylde Fuzz Show rock the Cavern |
With two Rickenbackers in the line-up,
you know you are going to get a jingle and a loud set. Their first set kicked
off with a cover of “Shakin’ All Over” and continued at a frenetic pace. The
drummer was very good, providing a great rolling beat.
There must have been
some consumption of energy drinks between the end of their first show and the
start of the second because the second one started where the last one left
off……high octane, high energy which really put the W into Wylde. The band
powered through the second set, and Jonny literally threw himself around the Cavern
Stage. A great debut for this band at the IPO, who incidentally have the
youngest Bass player in the festival at the tender age of just 13!.
 |
| Our friend Kerri, her Thee Wylde Fuzz CD and the Band after the show |
 |
| The Reflections |
The Reflections, a band
who have appeared at many IPOs have developed over the last couple of years and
are more psychedelic and rockier now than in the past. The lead singer is more
animated, and the keyboard adds to that 60’s psychedelic sound.
A stand out
song tonight for us was “Girl I Used To Know” which had a strong vocal and a neat
little lead guitar solo. A new song was included tonight, “New Shoes” which had
a bit of a “Pipeline” guitar and drum feel to it and it sounded just fine. Unfortunately
the back stage seemed to be running a bit late so their set was cut a little
short, ending on the title track of their EP “Haunted House”, which finished
with an eerie “whhoooo” in true ghost style from the lead guitarist.
Another filler for us
was local Liverpudlian band Watchtower and boy are we glad we saw them, so much
so, that we also saw their last ever gig across the road in the Pub later on.
 |
| Watchtower |
A
quartet of young local lads, this was their last night together as a band so it
was quite poignant (and emotional) for them to be playing the Cavern stage.
This band is a bunch of real characters, and Jackson the lead guitarist really stood
out as a fun, mad, (in the nicest sense) kind of guy. He was as flexible as a
pipe cleaner, bending this way and that, pogoing around the stage and had the
most amazing facial expressions. A mixture of Slade's Dave Hill, and Wilko Johnson. He was also a rather good air drummer too!
We
really enjoyed the Bass player’s song about having a job you hate – it had a
great ska melody with a bit of “whoo hoo, ha ha ha” as the chorus. He was also
a very good bass player and jumped, danced and moved around the stage just like
the two guitarists.
For both performances they had a great crowd in, which left little room to move, and we have
to say their ska influenced rhythm and general overall synergy and stage
presence was a winner for us. This is the first band of this year’s IPO that
have had an encore, and they did a sensational version of Led Zep’s “Whole
Lotta Love” which was very true to the record and sounded pure brilliant. Their
pub set was pretty much the same (without the Led Zep song) and their final
song was a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B Goode” which had the whole pub
jumping and thumping. What a way to end.
Donkey Hot Pink, from Spain
had command of the Back Stage and we were not overly impressed with this band
from Southern Spain. They just didn’t do it for us. To each their own though.
We caught part of the
set from Italian band The Backlash and gave up after two songs as what we got
was an Oasis tribute act. They did provide two of the funniest moments mind you. The band started playing, and we thought someone had taken a wrong turn and had wandered on-stage by mistake. It was in fact the singer, who we reckon was waiting for the big audience cheer that didn't happen. Then we witnessed a first at the IPO. They finished the first song to a deafening silence.
 |
| RAF |
Our final band for the
night was all the way from Portland, Oregon, a MOD outfit called RAF. All
suited and booted, this band was a cross between The Who and The Ramones, and
gave us 30 minutes of high powered, brilliant Mod Punk Rock.
They played original
material which actually, would not be out of place on a compilation of 60’s Mod,
and did only one cover, their final song, The Kinks’ “David Watts”.
This is another group whose professionalism shines through, playing a tight set. We did
enjoy seeing this band but it is unfortunate that the lead singer looked a bit like Nigel Farage!!!
 |
| RAF |
Until tomorrow guys and
gals ……..
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