Live:
Mind at Large / Dictaphone / Radium 88
Junction 7,
Nottingham
Saturday 4th
May 2002
A new venue, a new live night
and 3 new bands awaited us as we headed into the centre of Nottingham, which is
fast becoming a capital for club and gig goers everywhere. Seven, the new venue
situated in Canning Circus, has been billed as an �Ambient bar.� It adds to the
string of similar pre-club bars opening in Nottingham. The live area is a
function room upstairs with a makeshift stage and respectable PA system. The
entry fee of �4 did seem a little steep as this was only the 2nd week
for this new event, but by the end of the night all agreed that it was money
well spent.
I had
become familiar with Radium 88 some time ago and I was particularly intrigued to
hear their set. Their original mix of Sci-Fi/Dub/Rap is something new for the
Nottingham scene. I suppose their style lies somewhere between Dubstar and Pop
Will Eat It�s Self, if they were starring in a 1930�s American Sci-fi movie that
is! The female vocals were angelic, the rapping somewhat Urban, bordering on
rural. The violin added a ghostly classical texture and the guitar added a
strong rock element. The fact that they were using a backing through a medium
sized PA may have deflated the set a little in terms of sound quality, but the
reaction from the student based crowd was positive, with a fair few CD�s being
sold afterwards. The 88 missing folks in Radium would be proud. It�s live Jim,
but not as we know it!
The simple fact that Dictaphone
set up a glockenspiel made them a hit with me straight away. The fact that the
music was so damn good as well probably helped. From the opening track you could
not help but think that these guys had something special about them. The sheer
power of their music burst straight through. Even a broken bass guitar string
could not stop them from propelling the room into a drum and bass and
glockenspiel infested frenzy. They sound like a more melodic and vocal version
of Add N to X, and definitely have the potential to fill the boots of the
London
band, if Dictaphone had a car between them! A discussion with the
glockenspiel/keyboard player afterward suggested that a name change might be on
the cards. Don�t bother guys; if the Dictaphone ain�t broke don�t fix it.
Mind at
Large - The headline act! The almost non-existent sound check could have cost
them, and did shortly into their set when the synth failed to make any sound at
all and the singer complained of monitor problems. When they finally got it
sorted though they were great, inducing the first dancing of the evening. It was
as if Primal Scream had walked into the room and fired up the amps. The quality
of their material is obvious, and they have a strong stage presence. The
vocalist seems to like his FX box quite a lot though and this made it difficult
to pick out the words. Still, I could not help but like them. They have the
ability to tap into the electro-rock market that seems to be on the rise. The
mind is definitely at large!
Lee Fewkes |
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