Christmas At The Crauf
Christmas time hits the Craufurd in Wolverton as the festive gigs take over once again at the venue, this time being organised by Arms Of Atlas. The snow also hits hard with Arms Of Atlas’ Tyler and Jim freezing on the door and one of the bands dropping out due to the travel conditions. But that still leaves three bands on the bill with syntho-matic rock upstart basis of Kids Picked Last and Casio Kid, plus the guys of Arms Of Atlas themselves giving the cold season a bit of spicing up with a bit of a festive twist.
For Kids Picked Last, it’s been a case of a long hiatus since getting their album recorded and a change in the lineup. Those of you who haven’t seen them in action before or are a little unfamiliar, KPL have been experimenting with hardcore, punk and synthetic beats which is a fair amount to cram in. In the past their gigs have shown a bit of promise with the guys giving a good idea of what they’re aiming for but just not quite getting there. By all means, tonight isn’t exactly perfect either with the synth setup having some cable issues, but there’s something marking a bit more confidence about their set and it’s a lot more organised than their other sets so far.
Casio Kid also turn up with a few changes on their mashup of emotronica and Gameboy sounds, now with added guitar. The strings only really add a little bit of a boost, not detracting from the layout of warped vocals, mechanical beats and poppy 8-bit melodies. The hooks are still there but it’s early days to see how it’s all going to fit together, there’s definitely the potential for Casio Kid to take things a bit more forward. In what seems to be a bit of a tradition at the Crauf, the gig isn’t without it’s technical issues as the monitors are on-and off as the set goes on which spells a bit of a nuisance for the pair, but at least the crowd are following along closely and the set is still more-or-less tight one, just not so enjoyable for the band.
Arms Of Atlas have commendered the Craufurd tonight and so have the last slot to get the crowd moving. The best way to do that, as the band seem to know, is to keep up the energy on their side themselves, launching themselves around the the stage with a good few people singing along with frontman Tyler. The guys even fit in a bit of a Shakin’ Stevens christmas “Merry Christmas Everyone”, rocked up quite a bit of course with the old power chords and harmonies kicking in, a lá the general Arms Of Atlas style. The usual modus operandi works quite well with the young crowd that’s up front, singing and full of a bit of festive cheer despite the cold weather, but the AOA crew have made a bit more of an event of it this time round, it’s their first Christmas extravaganza, their first MK headline gig, and it just fits in with the band’s energetic nature.
With the gig finished, everyone rushes outside to catch a look at the sight of more snow that’s been a bit of a burden and a bonus already. Everyone seems hyped up a bit after the night and sliding around the car park, while the bands are probably wondering how the hell they’re getting their gear back home. It’s science, musicians and live music don’t exactly go hand in hand, it causes delays, gripes and an array of problems, but get past that and the snow isn’t that bad.
Craig \m/
Arms Of Atlas on Myspace
Casio Kid on Myspace
Kids Picked Last on Myspace
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