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Freshers Week. Not only is it that fateful week when you wake up next to someone you’ll subsequently have to tactically avoid for the next 3 years, but on a more positive note, it’s also the chance to catch new bands before they hit the big time. With tonight’s bands in place, there’s just one thing missing – the students.
Gigwise hasn’t reported on many nights where ‘position-yourself’ seating is an option, but tonight, for the feeble 22 (including bar staff) in attendance, it almost feels embarrassing not pulling up a chair. It’s therefore, somewhat reluctantly, and after stalling for as long as possible, that Blackbud take to the stage (Cue comedy tumbleweed). With an understandably confused look, they launch into opener, ‘Steal Away,’ valiantly and with the clear intension of proving they deserve more than this. Greeted with a ripple of applause, however, it’s looking like just one of those nights.
That’s a shame as well because in the face of adversity, they actually deliver a brief yet compelling set. ‘Barefoot Dancing,’ is powerfully dynamic, even if the lyrics “It’s alright,” seem a little ironic tonight. It’s at this point bass player, Adam Newton, pleads with the audience to contemplate standing up. Nervously obliging they do, and the band hit them with anthemic, ‘158.’ Joe Taylor’s vocals are as compelling and haunting as the music here - it’s just a shame no one’s witnessing it. Saving the best till last, the gargantuan sounding ‘Heartbeats,’ proves two things. They deserve a bigger stage, and to start with, a proper audience.
Surprisingly, by the time tonight’s headliners, Vatican DC, take to the stage, the audience has swelled to almost double its size. So much so in fact, that the second year student proudly boasting his crowd control t-shirt, has broken out in a sweat. Hailing from London, the band is made up of more eclectic mix of nationalities than the UN Security Council. It’s a shame therefore that this five piece don’t use their diversity to their advantage. Although aggressively fast out of the blocks, it doesn’t take long until everything starts to sound similar. Even though ‘Wow,’ features a natty riff made up of electro bleeps, and a chorus of “Wooohoohooho’s,” that brings a smile to your face, it’s hardly groundbreaking. Sadly the same can be said for new single, ‘Side to Side.’ The singer, Irish Steve, manages to pogo up and down on stage to dizzier heights than this ‘Buzzcocks meets ’22 Grand Job’’ song reaches.
Although their ‘snappy’ eight song headline set ends on a high with, ‘Trampoline,’ which is more diverse than anything that’s come before, unsurprisingly tonight they leave the stage with as little enthusiasm on their faces as when they arrived.
