Anyone not in the know might have thought tonight was a joint headlining show. Such was the strength of main support, Manchester’s The Answering Machine. We could use many phrases to describe them, however we’ll nick one from a guy stood behind us to his mate: “They’re like the Strokes if they’d been to Art School and didn’t have money, together with Franz Ferdinand if they’d bunked off Art School or if they’d not spent years poncing around”. Couldn’t have put it better myself.
Angular, fast paced and smartly dressed at first we thought they were going to be a bit of a cliche – good, but not great. However, they certainly had the energy (our poor camera couldn’t keep up with lead singer Martin), racing through their 7 song set with great professionalism. Gemma (pictured right), their bassist, was stood right in front of us and calmly drove the whole thing along whilst Martin and Pat really went for it. A great band you need to check out – and to get you on your way, there’s a free MP3 below.
MP3: The Answering Machine – Another City, Another Sorry
Most people were there for Syracuse’s Ra Ra Riot, the indie darlings slowly taking over Vampire Weekend’s mantle of the UK’s favourite US indie pop band. We caught them in August last year when they struggled to fill Water Rats in Kings Cross. Tonight they’d sold out Kings College. Quite a jump in such a short space of time, for any band.
Lead singer Wesley was on fine form, bouncing around the stage, however it must be said that he seemed a lot less lively than when we saw them in August – throughout their 50 minute set we had a feeling of a band going through the motions. They were good, but not amazing – no tangled cables or crazy omg-they’ve-broken-everything moments. Still, the show proved just how good they are – even when going through the motions they have bundles of energy, and a repertoire of songs that would make many bands blush. Catchy, they appeal to an audience as wide as irritating Rugby lads through to the minuscule bag-of-bones arts students.
Every track got a huge cheer, however the final three were the clinchers for many that took it from a so-so gig to a good one. Ghost Under Rocks was their catapult to the big time, whilst Dying is Fine has one of those choruses everyone loves, and ended with highfives from Wesley to the crowd.
By Phil Singer on Wednesday, 18th February 2009 at 2:17 am
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