Original bands, original music from Lincoln & Beyond

The Small Print + 1984 + Schlinky Pinky + Paul Burgess

Thursday, 09 September 2010

The Mezz Bar, Lincoln

The Small Print EP Launch

28 July 2007

Photos & Review by Pete

Eagerly anticipated, this was a BIG RaW night a la Mezz bar over at the Uni campus - The Small Print EP launch!  It's been a while since last seeing them at the Biv but on that occasion I was already hyper at the prospect of an imminent release. The music was becoming almost too complex to absorb during a live set so the luxurious prospect of the repeat play power of home listening was tempting.  And so this was it, the moment had arrived.  Oh, but there was the formality of a couple of other warm up bands on the bill - and that soon became a potential liability cos  after all, unsurprisingly, they weren't simply there just to make up the numbers. 

After an acoustic warm up from Paul Burgess, Schlinky Pinky shyly arrived on stage - wearing a dazzlingly insane array of capes, face masks and even a pair of fetching pink spotted boxers.  It was panto mayhem - but the theatrics didn't completely distract from what turned out to be some right on the money high powered riffs, churning and ripping guitar work flipping songs around all over the place, coming in and out almost from nowhere all the time.  An amusing kinda comical performance which sets them apart but impressively real substance there, too.

Even though Lincoln's live music scene has yet to be officially labelled 'The New Yorkshire' by the national music press, bands still want to travel a long way to be part of the action here.  Making the trip all the way up from Lewisham in South East London (think Monks Road end of town) 1984 were maybe putting in the miles to show us East Midlanders what's what.  A high risk strategy!  BUT it turned out they could in fact cut it up here.  Nice to see there were no big egos just some quality indie rock from skinny lads and an onstage rapport within the band that was incredibly reminiscent of Pete and Carl of The Libertines way back when.  The eye contact was uncannily familiar, hinting at that musical telepathy that just looks so cool.  Every member of the band, whether on vocals or not sung their way through every song, they love working with the material and that pleasure was kinda infectious.  Nice.

So, after those quality sets it was likely to have added to the nervousness of Seb, Hannah and Chris of The Small Print.  Also, the fact that they'd been up till the early hours of the morning putting the final polish to the EP meant they were floating on an adrenaline high of having just completed a major piece of work to a deadline they had imposed upon themselves and were here to celebrate.  The temptation must have been great to postpone but this was meant to be their night and now they were about to try and claim it back.  Gremlins enjoy moments like these and, worryingl,y sound problems were causing delays even before the opening intro could settle some jitters.  Monitor levels then proved ineffectual and the lead guitar proved inaudible to everyone.  It was a battle to get things back in order but when someone in the crowd shouted out 'Turn your guitar up, Seb'  he cranked it up and the balance was finally precise and real sweet.  They were already on to their third song by then and only the massive goodwill of the forty of fifty loyal fans present kept it on the road.  For whatever reason the affection for this group is real and very deep. 

Good to see several local bands turn up to show support, too.  All the members of Virile were around plus not only everyone from Lipstick Entourage but even Lipstick Entourage's entourage!  There was a lot of interest around in checking check out the rumoured new direction of the band and on the night the trio had chosen to mix things up, working the new songs in with old faves and the strategy proved to be spot on - everybody was giving their full on attention and were more than happy to show a whole lot of appreciation.  The new songs incorporate synths and samples and seem a natural development for a musically adventurous band where everyone seems to be respected for their creative input.  It was intelligent with plenty of feeling, a pretty good combination and manages to maintain a coherence with the earlier work.  The vibe was pretty special and it was no surprise that nobody wanted to leave when it was all over.  A good sign and not the only one cos post-gig they were shifting a whole lot of EPs.  Eight tracks for a fiver.  I've been listening to it for the last couple of hours and yeah, it was worth the wait and the money. 

Some pics at www.shine.clara.co.uk webspace.

Pete

Band Websites:

The Small Print
1984
Schlinky Pinky
Paul Burgess

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