Quest For The Chest - Live
Beatitudes / Yellow Groove / Tommy Eye / ...
Friday 4th of June 2010
Tonight's show was the second heat of the Jurassic Mark "Quest For The Chest" battle of the bands at the The Talking Heads in Southampton and with a total of 36 bands competing across eight heats, a good performance was vital if the bands wanted to secure a place in the final, which takes place on the 26th June.
First on stage were Beatitudes, an indie-folk band with plenty of sparkle. Their well-formed song-writing skills backed their well polished performance and their set was elevated by plenty of vocal harmonies.
Yellow Groove were having a bad night, with lots of guitar changes to squeeze into their set they probably didn't need to have some technical problems with a guitar amp that didn't want to behave. Despite this, they put on a good show with their front man showing a bit of 90s rock swagger. If they removed the risky business of swapping instruments around during their set, I'm sure this band could put on a good show.
Backed by a live band and with the collaboration of some stunning vocalists, Tommy Eye was the catch of the night with his excellent hip-hop sound. Every song had a story to tell and with contributions from several singers there was plenty of chop and change in the set list.
With a roaring metal sound, Saqqara delivered some tight rhythms, drenched in thrashing riffs and given a twist with some big rock-solos from a very talented lead-guitarist.
Final band, Get Your Ass To Mars, played their final show with their current line up. With a sound that pays tribute to Blink 182 in return for the odd hook or two there wasn't much new going on. Despite this, they had a collection of songs that was endearing enough.
At the time of writing, the votes are being counted by the Jurassic Mark team - but this show was much more than just a battle of the bands, it was an excellent showcase of local talent.
Author: Steve
Venue: The Talking Heads (Southampton)
Found in: Live Reviews