Lights Out Before Dresden
Rather than spew half arsed comments all over Facebook like most people do (including myself, it must be said), I thought to myself, “why not use my fucking blog”? well, here I am, using my blog on my bloody awesome website, that I am immensely proud of by the way (but that is all for another blog).
As of writing, I’m currently sitting on a bus on the way back to my shit hole home town after watching a couple of new local Aberdeen bands find their feet at Cafe Drummonds; one of Aberdeen’s key venues for gigs. The two bands in question were supporting the slightly more high profile dudes in Lights Out Dresden, who we sadly missed tonight due to shitty bus timetables, but rest assured we will be covering that band in the future. Anyway, Ofelia were the opening band tonight, and it must be said that these guys (and gal) have some bright ideas in the songwriting department. Those ideas manage to rear their head from time to time, with some great vocal harmonies finding their way to the forefront, however it’s a very nervous set from the band. This is understandable. The band can count the number of gigs they have played to date on one hand, so it would be really cruel and completely unneccesary to pinpoint all the places where the band fall down (this isn’t a review!). I’m no rock star, but I feel like I have been to enough amazing gigs and scrutinised enough shit bands to know where improvements can be made, and I would definitely say this to Ofelia; if you feel like things aren’t going well, take it on the chin and battle harder. Never, ever show an audience that you are vulnerable because if you do that, the audience’s mind starts to sway from the performance and that’s when the whispers start creeping in and attention starts to wane. If you don’t believe you are the real deal, who will?
Next up were Almost Honest, a band who seemed a bit more comfortable onstage than their predecessors. I almost felt like there was a bit of a trade off between Almost Honest and Ofelia. The former had the better live presence whilst the latter had the more appealing songs. Maybe they can both learn from each other, but I felt that Almost Honest’s songs for the most part lacked hooks, which didn’t really give me anything to get excited about. I’ll stress again though; it is early days for the band. Almost Honest have also just started playing shows, with a bit more experience playing together and in support of bigger bands, pair the confidence they already have with more catchy songs and you could see the crowds starting to grow for this lot. The one concern I do have with Almost Honest is how front man Daniel Nicol is using his vocal – at times it doesn’t really sound like his voice works well with the music, and perhaps that’s something the guys can work on.
I would really hate for any of the bands above to take any offence to this blog. It’s truly great to see so many new bands coming onto the Aberdeen scene, and it’s a real pet peeve of mine that there will be some ignorant attendees at these concerts that don’t give bands like Almost Honest and Ofelia the opportunity they deserve to grow. Both bands have shown promise in different areas, and if this helps the young bands improve in any way, it would give me great pleasure knowing I assisted in some way! Bands like these could be the music of tomorrow. Give them a chance to prosper.
