Thursday 28/09/06 Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family, Fear Of Music, The Maple State @ ULU, London

Just a short walk from the hustle and bustle of Tottenham Court, tucked away down some rather unassuming side streets is ULU, which tonight provides the backdrop for a northern invasion from the rainy city of Manchester. And this evening’s acts have certainly brought the weather with them.

First on is The Maple State, a tight, controlled and seemingly popular four piece, complete with well executed vocal interplay. The only downside to their performance is that the union is not in the least bit busy, which is a shame, as their mix of Futureheads meets Stereophonics alt indie rock is rather quite good.

There’s a short break before fellow mancunians Fear Of Music take to the stage. Sounding more American than Anglo, theirs is a punkier art school alternative full of dark pounding bass notes, frenzied guitars and crashing drums. There’s a downtrodden energy about Fear Of Music that rings true with the crowd and suits their style of sing a long if you know the words play. It works well and the songs are belted out relentlessly one after the other.

But the main attraction tonight is Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family. By the time Mr. Frost appears, the audience has visibly swelled and there’s an instant outbreak of recognition upon many of the gathered faces as they realise that Liam has been walking around the bar area all night, un-hassled and left to soak up the building atmosphere, gauging what his reaction might be. But he needn’t worry as its good from the start. Dressed in a scruffy, battered suit and swigging from a bottle of Jim Beam, Liam’s dry manc observations are put to the test almost immediately; “It’s ****ing warm isn’t it? That’s because the Slowdown Family are on” remarks Liam before the audience heckling and banter begin. But it’s all in good humour and a two way street.