Three piece band Black Wire are first up and their unconfident strides onstage fool no one. Imagine moulding Alan Donohoe (The Rakes) with Paul Smith (Maximo Park) and you have the suit wearing, pogo bouncing, split kicking frontman Dan. Black Wire pick up the tempo with each song and ‘Attack, Attack, Attack’ leaves the crowd in no doubt of the talent of these boys. The absolutely amazing ‘Hard to Love Easy to Lay’ is without doubt the tune of the night.
After a late start and a rushed set it's not The Chalets night and they know it. The two (Karen-O-a-like) beautiful singers look more than uncomfortable throughout the whole set. They open with a very mediocre performance of ‘David Boring’, which after Black Wire's frenetic performance is a bit too slow and bog standard for the crowd. The set improves as it progresses and their last (and best) song, ‘Love Punch’ helps to convert the crowd before it's too late. However after the unexpectedly short set it's hard to experience what The Chalets really had to offer.
Headliners The Cribs, did not disappoint, well not for the first 10 minutes. Unfortunately for the Wakefield brothers it's not meant to be. The fire alarm clears the crowd and even Black Wire rushing onstage with in an attempt at an impromptu performance can’t keep people inside. So it's off home with the hope that next time things will go better for two obviously talented bands.
