REVIEWS

TUMBLEDOWN DICK,FARNBOROUGH

MIRMIS - Tumbledown Dick, Farnborough, Hampshire, Weds 24th May 2000
Set list : Got No Money (Loizou/Langhorn)/Tales of the Unexpected(Loizou/Langhorn/Kyriakides/Pritchard)/Catch That Running Train(Loizou/Langhorn)/Fatboy Sin(Loizou/Langhorn/Constantinou)/Smokescreen(Loizou/Langhorn)/Don't Hold Your Breath(Kyriakides)/Voodoo Man (Loizou/Langhorn)/Queen Of King (Kyriakides)/20th Century Boy (Bolan/Blackmore/Gillan/Glover/Lord/Paice/Page/Plant)
Set length : 45 Mins
All is not well in Farnborough. Its 8pm, and MIRMIS go on in an hour, but only the rhythm section had arrived. Drummer Lloyd Pritchard and Bassist Andy Kyriakides were all set up and kicking their heels, whilst the other were delayed in setting off from base camp Stoneleigh. The apprehension was obvious. The last gig in Worcester Park was a bit of a disaster, with equipment failure all over the place. It was enough to kill off lesser bands, but mirmis knuckled down and got on with getting better. We were promised two new songs tonight, and a tighter sound.....
At about 9.30 MIRMIS eventually took to the stage in the midst of a leaky roof, to a loud cheer. The support band was cancelled and this added pressure to the band, but they looked totally relaxed. From the opening A chord they never looked worried or nervous. The result of this was a rejuvenated band playing very tight, with a more powerful sound. The first new track "Tales of the unexpected" was sneaked in as the second number with its odd structure breaking up the similarity between the first and third songs, and is the first number to be written by the band as a whole in rehearsals this March. Guitarist Marios Loizou proved his growing stature as a guitarist on this number and Pritchard's power drumming drove the song along. Singer Dave Langhorn's sub culture rap gave the song a nice punctuated feel. The more familiar set then followed and this was where the more powerful sound was evident. Marios's new Ibanez was the key difference complimenting his playing style perfectly, which got Andy's bass sound crisper and Dave pushing his vocals to the fore. After the normal closing number of Voodoo Man, when the fan club were expecting nothing else, the second song came in. "Queen of king" was written about 3 years ago by Andy K, as a little 90 second demo instrumental, but he has expanded it to this 8 minute epic to close the set. Andy promptly handed his bass to Dave and picked up a guitar himself. The difference is massive. Having two guitarists instead of one pushed this wall of sound over a captivated audience. Lloyd's constant drumming held together a future masterpiece with Dave's vocals giving a air of prog rock meets Radiohead, before the song kicks in with Andy taking on the vocal duties. Marios's restrained guitar compliment Andy's interstellar solo like fish & chips. The song got the loudest response of the night. But after the Rock medley at the end, the night was over yet again, almost before it started. A triumphant comeback from the Surrey boys....