This weekend was one of musical adventure, as Neonfoxtongue and I decided to take in a couple of gigs. Friday night was a trek to the other side of the world, known as Lewisham, to witness a rare occurrence, a performance by Nebraska.
Dexy and his Handsome Homeless outfit opened the show with some rousing rock and roll. Dexy plays a blend of alt-country and rock with panache. His silk smooth vocals and instrumentations are reminscent of Badly Drawn Boy. Dexy does need to work a bit on connecting with his audience, as he comes across as a little bit shy behind the mic, which can be detrimental to chances of success. However, when placed in the context of the "handsome homeless" his gregarious bunch of friends that backed him on Friday night, Dexy was able to bring the crowd round and get them bopping to some great tunes.
In London, it used to be said that Nebraska had a lot going for them; decent following, EP released by Rough Trade, then they kind of dropped of the radar. Well on Friday night they came back in a big way. Putting on a fantastic set at the Fox and Firkin in Lewisham, Michael and co. ripped up the stage with some super tight new songs that are going to have labels across the country begging them for a chance to sign them. Originally I felt there was an element of Finger 11 in their music, but upon reflection, I think that they are much closer to bands like System of Down, very melodic hard rock. Michael cretaes some awesome imagery with his lyrics, and his soulful voice is perfectly backed by Ben, Stax and Jarrod. Expect to hear more from these guys in the near future.
Sunday evening, we decided to trek over to Islington to take a listen to Foreign Office. Their Myspace demo doesn't do them justice. With tinges of Joy Division, the Killers, and just a general melange of indie-new wave stylings, they brought the house down at the Old Queen's Head. I have no idea what the name of the lead singer is, but there's definitely and Ian Curtis vibe from him (hope it doesn't result in the same fate). Don't cha think?
Apparently this was only their third show ever, and for such a young band, they were really tight. If they can stick together and keep putting on shows like this, you can expect big things from them in the coming year.
Comments