Catching up on May gigs part 2 - LAP 27/05/08

I will get there in the end. I've done this back-to-front too. It will keep you on your toes. We went down to the Academy 3 on 27th May to see our friends LAP (Life Among People) play the Academy unsigned night. At first the audience seemed timid save for a few fans who were up at the front straight away but as the set progressed, more and more of the people here to see other bands were drawn into the crowd by the impressive noises coming from the stage. I've lost count of how many times we've seen LAP but seeing them on a larger stage with a professional sound and stage set-up shows them off to their full effect. The guys aren't at all phased by this and get things going with recent single Point and Shoot. In Dog Years You're Dead follows and is backed up by Zero Tolerance. Tony's a confident frontman these days but the overall sound benefits from the extra guitar brought by relative newcomer Ste.
Jim's been a friend of mine for some years but I'm still ever-impressed by his drumming abilities and watching him and Martin drive the band forward through the faster songs leaves me feeling tired out! We got the Terminator theme tune mid-set, which although executed with a high degree of irony is atmospheric and epic. Always brings a smile to my face though they tend to shy away from playing it these days so as not to appear gimmicky.
A couple more songs from their recent works see the crowd really getting into the set and I feel proud to see so many people finally appreciating the talent these guys have. Older song Trend is the show-closer and there's a definite buzz of impressed people as we leave to get home early as it is a school night after all.
8/10 (Photos by Danny Powell)

Trying to catch up! May's gigs part 1 - The Project: Chase HQ Allstars @ WA1

I'm really quite behind and this hasn't been helped by being out of the country for the last week. I've got 5 gigs to blog on so I'll make a start on it with The Project: Chase HQ Allstars at WA1 on 31st May whilst I'm still successfully fighting off the jetlag. Apologies if they're quite short but I'll learn and try to be more prompt, plus I've decided not to take notes at gigs as, for a start I look like a right geek and secondly, it's harder to enjoy yourself if you're fumbling around for pen and paper.
There's two things that are immediately obvious about Chase HQ Allstars tonight and that's that the regular gigs they're playing has made them a lot, lot better and more cohesive-sounding and that this sort of music does sound a lot better when it's warm and it's been sunny out. However, please note that if you're off to WA1 in the sun, don't wear shorts as they won't let you in!
CHQA's music is hard to properly define. I'd always stuck it in some dub-ska box without really thinking about it, but they've got samples, brass and guitars a-plenty and as they progress they're starting to get their own style more. Singer Dave's grown in confidence since we first started seeing the band (I've no idea how long ago that was - couple of years?) and holds the crowd's attention a lot more. Please excuse me not knowing the exact setlist or song names - again, I'll learn! The set leaned towards the more summery songs they play and we had a call to missing bassist Matt who was detained somewhere in the south and not able to get to the gig. I have threatened bad things to people who mix brass and guitars but the brass section is developing into a more integral part of the band rather than an add-on and it seems like the new songs written to include Sara and Jon show a more organic way of the band growing together.
In short, it's cheerful, happy music, perfect for a Saturday summer night and a band on the rise. Those picnic benches are really uncomfortable though and Scottish vodka is as bad as it sounds!
7.5/10