REVIEWS

GREYHORSE,KINGSTON,SURREY

LENGTH: 1hour

SET LIST:

Got No Money (Loizou/Langhorn)

Borderline (Kyriakidis)

Tales Of The Unexpected (Loizou/Langhorn/Kyriakidis/Pritchard)

Catch The Running Train (Langhorn/Loizou)

Fat-boy-Sin (Loizou/Constantinou/Langhorn)

Smokescreen (Langhorn/Loizou)

Alice In The Looking Glass (Langhorn/Loizou)

Don’t Hold Your Breath (Kyriakidis)

Voodoo Man (Langhorn/Loizou)

Encore

Status Blues (Kyriakidis/Loizou/Pritchard)

Queen Of King (Kyriakidis)

Twentieth Century Boy/Black Night/Whole Lotta Love

Well here are Mirmis at last playing in front of their home crowd so to speak and boy have the punters turned up in force.  Over 100 people witness a performance full of enterprise, quality and character from the south Londoners, Mirmis are here to rock and of course to get pissed (well in Lloyds case anyway.)  Initial problems with the PA system hound the support acts performance, Flamingo Quiche.  They may sound like a band that haven’t played together for some four years, but the duo featuring Andy (of Mirmis fame) and Paul give the crowd an interesting start.  Both guitarists are established, Paul is obviously the most gifted guitarist on show tonight playing his Les Paul with relative ease and churning out solos like there’s no tomorrow, and with Andy complementing him on Guitars and vocals the veterans definitely excel themselves.  OK mistakes are made and you are left wandering if Flamingo Quiche are at times just there for the piss-take (check out their cover of Britney Spears’ One More Time), but still for a band that rarely perform together this is definitely a triumphant return. 

Mirmis come on stage with a rousing applause.  Problems with the PA seem to have disappeared later (although Guitarist Marios Loizou later informs us that in fact he could not hear a single note that he played during the gig due to no sound coming from the feedback.)  However you would never have thought it as the band kick off with usual opener “Got No Money”.  The band have a nerve to keep playing this one, as it is lyrically vain, but as Langhorn states “This was written by the minds of 14 year olds”.  That said it is still apparent that this is a fine tune, with the whole band sounding tighter that ever. 

They then have the cheek to sneak in new number, the thunderous Borderline.  Andrew Kyriakides always has a knack in writing simple, yet effective rock songs that border (excuse the pun) between mid 80’s Metal and Hard Rock.  The sounds like a recipe for disaster, but in fact this is a very raw and very catchy rock number.  Its narrative is similar to Fat-boy Sin and if you know what that’s about, then you’ll see the resemblance.  The opening riff is spot on, and whilst Langhorn still thinks he’s Morrissey he in fact puts in a great performance, his best yet! 

“Tales Of the Unexpected” is, well, expected by the keen Mirmis followers.  Langhorns sub-culture rappin is still evident, as is Andy’s pondering Bass, but its only until the finale of the song we see Drummer Lloyd Pritchard and Marios Loizou excel themselves.  Loizou nearly manages a Rock God type guitar solo and Lloyd as ever sounds like John Bonham on acid and looks like Keith Moon…..on Acid!  

Next up is the rousing anthem Catch the Running Train.  Clearly a song most likely to be released as a single from Mirmis’ catalogue, this sees Andy and Marios join Dave in full unison during the chorus.  This is also the case with the political “Fat-Boy Sin” where the band change the pace, from full on rock to a more mellow sound.  

Smokescreen, a song that would also be contender for a single release (and is also available with a promo video to be released soon) is up next.  The message in this song is clear, The Systems FUCKED!

Another new number the Loizou penned “Alice in the Looking Glass” is next up.  From the opening 2 chords you can tell that this is a typical high energy Mirmis number.  With a Punk element in addition, this features a catchy riff and an even catchier chorus – “ALICE I CONFESS that I wore her dress!” Sings Langhorn, revealing what he gets up to in his spare time – better than sticking flowers up your arse I suppose!

Back to normality with Don’t Hold Your Breath which is sped up for good measures.  Here we see what Lloyd is made of.   His unorthodox style creates a thumping sound, and Lloyd always looks like he’s beating the shit out of the drum-kit.  (Check out Lloyds antics right at the end of the gig where he throws his sticks into the audience!)

Also during Don’t Hold your breath we see Langhorn displaying his dancing skills.  At one point he even threatens to strip in front of the crowd – much to the amusement of Andy and Marios who advise Dave to save the stripping act until they play at the Robert Peel pub, which of course is next to a Strip joint!

Final number before the encore is a re-vamped Voodoo Man, taking advantage of  Andy's new bass fx pedal.  The alienating sounds created at the start by Andy fit in well with Marios’s opening riff.  The band even manages to fit in a bass and Drum solo in this closing number. 

Just when the crowd thought it was over the band come for the encore.

“This ones dedicated to the best Rock and Roll band in the world – Status Quo” Andy tells the audience in sarcastic fashion.  They play out this instrumental with ease, Both Marios and especially Andy pull off some effective Guitar solo’s.

The 7-minute Prog Rock classic Queen Of King is one of the stand-out numbers of the gig.  The quiet and delicate strumming from both Loizou and Kyriakides accompanies Langhorns vocal performance well.  The number consists of the same chords throughout, but the beauty of it all is with the change of volume, as the song builds up to an epic ending.  Loizou plays rhythm guitar whilst Kyriakides produces a dynamic solo consisting of enterprise and technique.  Lloyd produces yet another solid performance, whilst Langhorn hits the notes perfectly.

The crowd responds well and the band play-out with a rocking version of the T-Rex classic Twentieth Century Boy.   With Black Night and Whole Lotta love thrown in for good measure, the medley ends in hysterical fashion.

Mirmis clearly have the potential, but its whether they can keep up the momentum.  More songs and gigs are needed, but the long-awaited debut album is what the crowd really wants: NEWS FROM THE MIRMIS CAMP IS THAT RECORDINGS WILL TAKE PLACE IN OCTOBER WITH THE RELEASE OF A MINI-ALBUM IN NOVEMBER.