I was offered a guest list place for this free single launch gig for Eugene McGuiness' new single Fairlight: Fairlight by Eugene McGuinness and took it while managing to confuse Eugene for a different Eugene. Oh well, so this gig wasn't quite what I was expecting, just the first of two gigs featuring bands I've never heard this week.
So, once more into the breach. I got into Birthdays in time to see all of opening act WHISTLEJACKET'S set. This saw the room fill from the back forwards as at no point in the bands set did anyone move forwards onto the dance floor and the only person dancing who appeared to be the band's biggest fan. They didn't show up till they were nearly done either.
Now they weren't at all bad, playing in the style of late 80's/ early 90's indie fare; fusing Joy Division to My Bloody Valentine with some shimmering guitar and explosive drumming. The front man had all the presence of a box of cornflakes but a decent enough voice. What was missing for me, however, was that this kind of band should be off their trolleys, swigging bottles of Cough Medicine, toking on joints and looking like they have partied all weekend, long before playing a come down set on a Monday night while still tripping their nuts off. Instead, they looked more like they had been in accounting classes all day long. They need to get more of an image and to work on making the songs a bit more memorable. Then they might be onto something.
As soon as Whistlejacket finished, the crowd moved forward to fill the dance floor in anticipation of EUGENE McGUINNESS. This was when I noticed I was in a minority; unusual at the gigs I normally go to. Yes the crowd was 80 to 90% Stokey/Hoxton/Shoreditch hipster chicks (can I use the term chicks or should that be girls?) Either way this is an unusual event at gigs by guitar bands and Eugene McGuinness it turned out falls resolutely into that category.
So when he came on I soon realized I wasn't going to hear any lo-fi Scottish indie (you guessing which Eugene I'd mistaken Mr. Mc for yet?) but that Eugene and his band would be tearing up the place with some well sung Indie guitar pop that had the place going in no time. I really liked standing next to a dreadlocked woman playing air drums for most of the set. I think she really got into it on Amazing Grace (thankfully was Eugene's own song, NOT that one) where the guitars were distorting and meshing nicely. Let's Go Undercover has enough nuance in the lyrics to have its tongue nicely in your cheek and also had a lot of fans singing along.
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Much of the set featured new material from the next album and on this hearing it will be worth checking out when it arrives. Eugene won't need to hold a shotgun to my head to make me hear it, but Shotgun was (I think) another of the new tunes that had plenty of energy as did Video Game. He made a big thing of introducing the new single Fairlight even though as it's only a download you couldn't buy it at the gig. Oh well it's a fairly catchy indie rock tune that went down a storm.
I was wondering what sort of Monsters he could have under his bed unless it was a group of air drumming monsters who thought the title of his last album Invitation To A Voyage was their cue.
He told a bit of a story to introduce Last Night I Climbed Backstage. It was one of the highlights of the show for me; it had the best guitar solos and just really worked even if none of the songs stuck with me too much afterwards.
Nonetheless, this was still a good set and by the time they closed with Sugar Plum, most of the audience were dancing which isn't bad on a Monday night. When they went off the crowd played the 'too cool for school we'll stand and pout to get an encore routine' rather than clapping but they did cheer when the band came back out for one last tune. Eugene introduced it as Liars and they fairly rampaged through it before saying goodnight.
Go to: Eugene McGuinness online for any more information. I'd say the new album will be worth investigating when it finally gets out there.
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