Youthful show-openers AUX played their heavy rock pop to a dedicated pack of teenage fans with enthusiasm and panache; they showed a lot of potential, and with a couple more years of gigging experience under their belts, and the courage to try something more original, they'll be tighter, better, and we might be able to hear the lyrics through the rhythmic guitar distortion and ill-advised synth sounds.
Next came LE NEON, mixing thin, swingy textures with dystopic build ups, and heavy, good-riff choruses, which qualified them to pull off bad synth sounds. The strangely hypnotic and disillusioned lead vocalist didn't exactly sing, but certainly didn't give a shit, Albarn-ing his way through the set nonchalantly, and satirising exactly what I'm doing here-judging them-with the line "Well are we your type? / Well perhaps we're just not right".
THE CORONETS also had relaxed stage presence but in a more vulnerable, less cool way. Completely unpretentious, gentle and inoffensive, they strummed nice chords, and weakly but happily sang unashamedly cheesy choruses, with deliberately unsculpted and mundane lyrics. This is Beautiful South in the middle of the road near Tesco's, but not even that exciting place where you might get hit by oncoming cars.
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Last, but well worth waiting for, was THE UNDERGRADE, reminiscent of The Coral, but with a lot more jaunt, bite and growl. And Trilbies. Their plonky ska was punctuated by crazy pier Hammond-organ chromatic tunes, and the singer won over the audience with his incredibly watchable Jim-Morrisson-meets-Queens-Of-The-Stone-Age style singing, his flirty winking eye, shaky Elvis leg, and lyrics which were mostly about sex. Thanks to Glasswerk for putting on such a varied evening, with two shining gems of bands - Le Neon and The Undergrade.
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