Oct.23.09
The Craufurd seem to be having a good week, in the front of house the guys are celebrating a year’s anniversary of Underpass at the venue with the Peartree Bridge Family playing a lengthy set, in the back we have the return of some infectious pop punk electro noodlings with Yashin coming down for a show, then there’s the supports from local names like Firetone, Scared Of The Ocean and Embrace The Tide to boot too. Not to mention 80′s Matchbox B-Line Disaster the day after.
Warming up the night are Embrace The Tide who played yesterday at the Backstage gig we reviewed and it wasn’t exactly their luckiest gig. Tonight is a similar gig though, maybe not as long but the format is the same with the same material bouncing around, a lot of material from their Salvation Ep, and some stuff that seems quite new too, all with the band’s recognisable vocal styles and progressive leanings. Bad luck strikes again though, as there seems to be some cab trouble for one of the guitarists, though the guys press forward with their set with just one guitarist until things are up and running again, fortunately the dual riffs are back before a song is finished. It’s a quick rescue but the guys are probably still cursing their luck over the last two days.
It’s been a while since their last gig, but with about four years of gigging behind them as it is, Scared Of The Ocean can pretty much be described as a patient band. It’s also been a good chance to see how their material has developed as of late and it’s easy to tell that their back-catologue has been tweaked a bit to bulk out their songs and fit in with their new sound, though their newer tracks are also sounding on the ball with “Fight Or Flight” providing a bit of a rush in particular with a strong beat-driven pace. Being their first gig in a while, the set isn’t perfectly tight, but the energy is there and the guys seem to have a fair crowd on their side too, though most of them are a bit of a miserable bunch who don’t clap along. All the same, these guys are looking and sounding that little bit more dynamic.
Firetone, Firetone, Firetone… Definitely one of the busiest local bands going, playing at the Craufurd once again, another tight set is due so in that respect there’s no surprises, though bassist Chris looks on good form and is powering away through the bass-lines with an intensely dynamic disposition. Apart from that it’s a usual Firetone gig, a great standard but just not bringing much new to the table apart from “Clarity” which comes up as the bands’ newest track. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s still an enjoyable gig and seemed quite a bit more energetic than usual, it seems that the band try to go the extra mile when supporting other bands like Yashin with tonight being no exception, and with a fanbase who can sing along to every word of most of their songs, who can complain?
In the midst of a “Flash Your Yash” tour, Glasgow’s Yashin find themselves in a similar stead, although quite a few people are outside when they start, their noise gets everyone in quite sharp. Evidently the Yashin crew are looking well up for playing and kicking up a fuss along with their fans up front, kicking off with”The First Rule Of Fightclub”. Following that is a cocktail of metal leads, screamo vocals and a little bit of pop-punk style with a little injection of a rave here and there that gets the people moving. One thing that can be said about the guys is that it seems Yashin like their dirty sluts, with one of their songs already bearing the term as a moniker, so their last track is a homage to one of their favourites, a bit of Brittany Spears winds the gig down, if you such a term exists at a Yashin gig, as blasts of power punk and screamo spice up the delicate panderings of “Everytime” leaving the fans with something special.
Not too bad a gig, apart from whatever trouble Embrace The Tide had it’s been a smooth one. As for the Craufurd, it’s been quite a year, stages have been built, walls painted, lights set up, and a lot has generally changed since the Underpass crew first moved in, and it seems that celebrations are still taking place at the front courtesy of the Peartree Bridge Family. It’s been quite a year, let’s hope the coming year will be just as eventful.
Craig \m/
Yashin on Myspace
Firetone on Myspace
Scared Of The Ocean on Myspace
Embrace The Tide on Myspace
