First band on the bill this evening were five piece, Northeast Party House. Still very young and finding a common sound, the band showed a great deal of potential. However, on a sonic level, they were all over the place and came across as a bit of a dog’s breakfast. It was, at times, as if the six members were playing in six separate musical styles. Unfortunately, the result sounded like a bit of a mess on the live front. But as mentioned, they do show a great deal of promise.
Next on the bill was one of the Purple Sneakers DJs, who treated the audience to an hour’s worth of mash up style music. Pockets of the crowd seemed to enjoy Martin Novosel’s crew’s work on the night but in general, none of the song mash ups really seemed to work. Also, the volume was way too loud to the point of distortion, and the set really did back up the train of thought regarding mash ups that ‘it’s just someone playing someone else’s records’. Also, in recent times, this style of music has been done to death; what was presented tonight can be heard on various radio stations across the country every Friday and Saturday night.
Thankfully, the night was saved by the headliners: sporting one of the most ridiculously infectious band names this scribe has heard in years, Does It Offend You, Yeah? proceeded to whip the crowd into a frenzy. Starting with ‘Wrestler’, the five piece from Reading, England very much attacked their instruments and gave it everything they had. The energy the band displayed on stage was very much reflected by a rather hyper, predominately young crowd.
Set highlights included ‘Let’s Make Out’, ‘We Are The Dead’ and a particularly impressive live rendition of ‘Survival Of The Thickest’. The band were, at times, very reminiscent of early Prodigy, displaying that same drive and foot to the floor electronic/rock mash up style to them. This is a perfect band to see on a Friday night and blow off some steam to. Like The Prodigy and The Happy Mondays, they just make you want to dance!
In the latter half of their 75 minute set, the band pulled out a great cover version of Nirvana’s ‘Aneurysm’, which went down an absolute treat with the audience. From there, the band ripped into a storming version of this scribe’s favourite track from the band, the utterly over the top instrumental, ‘Attack Of The 60ft Lesbian Octopus’.
They closed their set with the now classic ‘We Are Rockstars’, which took the crowd to an even higher level. The Prince felt like an absolute sweatbox with everyone singing and dancing, and a welcome encore featured ‘The Monkeys Are Coming’, which was a great way to finish off the night.
– Neil Evans
