Wow, for the first time I'm here at the Pyramids and the majority of the
crowd isn't little kids. This is quite fantastic. The Holloways aren't
a band you'd immediately associate with an older audience, but it appears
that's the way it is.
I saw Kid Harpoon at Glastonbury this year and remembered enjoying it
greatly. So to get another opportunity to catch him/them in action, I
was more than happy. And despite the fact the sound wasn't set up very
well, they put on a good show. Upbeat indie music with a folk twist, the
songs he writes are really good to listen to. And generally full of energy
without obviously hurling themselves around the stage. The most memorable
song of the set is the Leonard Cohen cover, “First We'll Take Manhattan,”
but that doesn't mean the original material isn't notable, in fact, it's
all very good. “Flowers By The Shore” and “Milkmaid,”
being two songs you should go looking for. Try not tapping your foot to
this. Go on. I dare you. Kid Harpoon fronts it all with gruff vocals and
acoustic guitar, often holding it up high, and pretending to shoot it,
much like a harpoon. And the backing group, consisting of three or four
guys, played away quite contently as Kid Harpoon stood at the front of
the stage rocking violently from side to side as their exciting tales
echoed out over an equally excited crowd.
When they finished, it was time for The Wombats. Now, I didn't know anything
about these guys, besides the fact they had a song that went “let's
dance to Joy Division and celebrate the irony,” and that everyone
had it as their screen-name on MSN messenger and similar programs. Your
typical scruffy indie three-piece. From what I remember, everything seemed
to sound quite similar, and I expected more from a band who regularly
feature on Radio 1, tagged as the biggest new thing, or whatever. The
singer/guitarist/keyboardist jerked violently as he bashed out jagged
chords and riffs, and tossed his shaggy hair about as he did so. Besides
the obvious famous number which was played at the end of the set, to much
cheering from the audience, I didn't pick up any other song names. But
you don't have to know what a song is called to have an opinion on it.
All in all, the sounds were quite samey, yet there was something about
them. I said the word “jagged” before and I think that sums
them up pretty well, really. And at the end, unless I'm very much mistaken,
there was a rendition of the Postman Pat theme, but in Dutch or Norwegian
or something? Not quite a sing along, but amusing never the less.
And then time for the main event, the Holloways. Now, unfortunately, my
experience of the Holloways isn't that more in-depth from my experience
of the Wombats. I'm a Holloways fan's worst nightmare, as I only really
know and like them for “Generator,” and am not really familiar
with the rest of the album, let alone any earlier material. This doesn't
alter my opinion, it just makes it hard to have a lot to say. However,
what I can say, is that seeing the live performance made me want to go
and listen to the album. Such an awesome sound between the group of them,
quirky indie, with dual-vocals that aren't necessarily in tune, but have
a certain charm to them. As I mentioned earlier, the sound wasn't perfect
in the Pyramids, which was particularly noticeable during the Holloways
said dual-vocals, as they seemed to drown out everything else. I think
after the first couple of songs it was rectified, as logically I wouldn't
have been able to hear anything to determine that I was enjoying myself.
But I was. For one song, a broken violin was featured. Now, to most, this
would call for cries of “get some new equipment!” but it was
all supposed to be. The song was called “Two Left Feet,” and
the broken violin is very much key to the song's sound. And it's a bloody
good one. I also remember “Dancefloor,” which is another decent
track. I think they played through their entire album “So This Is
Great Britain.” The song of the set, “Generator” was
obviously saved until last. It kind of makes the chance of an encore even
more obvious when you don't play your most famous song within your main
set, doesn't it. Admittedly the stage show lacked excitement as they did
nothing but played good music, but musically, it was everything the crowd
needed as they bopped along. From teenage rockers to mid-thirties-pillheads,
everyone was having a good boogie.
Review By Thom
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