THE PRINCESS PAVILION, FALMOUTH (13TH OCTOBER)

THE HITCHCOCK RULES

Holding a launch party for The Hitchcock Rules new single at The Princess Pavilion in Falmouth was a brave move for this local band considering the size of the venue, braver still was holding it on Friday the 13th! Now I`ve been to see bands here before that have struggled to fill the arena, but not tonight. The Hitchcocks (as Wayne Tree-Dweller is unable to call them!), created one of the best gigs of the year tonight with a little help from their friends.

Under the banner of a new single launch party, The Hitchcock Rules showcased some of the finest musical talent in the county today throughout the evening and left the box office with only four tickets unsold as the venue filled up with fans from all over the country.

The inevitable highlight of the evening went to the organisers themselves as the audience went mental from the first note to the last of the local heroes set. Playing some of the new tracks from the e.p., `The Darkness and the Light`, mixed with some crowd pleasing old favourites, the lads showed what months of touring across the country has taught them. The band are truely a professional outfit now, but luckily haven`t forgotten how to have a good time and this showed throughout their performance.

This evening will go down in local history as the one you should`ve been at, and like other legendary gigs, I`m sure many will claim to have been there in the future. But being in the right place at the right time and showing their support in the audience were other local musicians, including amongst others, Tam from Glass Shark and Jonny from Mechanical Swagger.

2006 will really have to pull something pretty special out of the hat to beat this evening`s entertainment - Hats off to The Hitchcock Rules!

MATT EXELBY

The last act on the acoustic stage (handily located in the bar) before the headliners kicked the evening into touch, was Matt Exelby with his musical partner on cello. The curly haired Matt, with his waistcoat, acoustic guitar and harmonica gave a very good visual impression of the young Bob Dylan as he stood and battled with the sound technicalities that befell the short set. Musically, I found Mr.Exelby to be vastly more interesting than Mr. Zimmerman and of course Matt`s style much easier on the ears.

Mellow, gentle and soothing as his performance was, Matt Exelby was playing to an audience keen to see the headliners and so had less of a reaction from the passing crowd than previous artists, which is a shame as I found myself keen to hear more when it was over. Earlier on the bill would have seen a more excited reaction from those listening, I think.

THE NOEL PRIOR BAND

Everytime I see Noel and the band perform, they get bigger and bigger! Here on the main stage as the penultimate act, The Noel Prior Band, (now with added Toby and Harry!) had the audience in the palm of their hands from the second they strode onstage. I think the reactions from the fans threw Noel and he was taken aback by the excitement he was causing, asking the crowd, "What`ve you lot been drinking?!", after another massive cheer roared out. From where I was standing, it was clear that The NPB could do no wrong, (infact this must be the first gig that no-one threw a shoe at them!), as the crowd had decided that The Noel Prior Band were in the right place at the right time.

What a performance, what a buzz!

RUARRI JOSEPH

When Ruarri took to the small acoustic stage with his battered old guitar, I don`t suppose he knew what was about to actually happen to the audience sat around him - it certainly took me by surprise when, within seconds of his first strum, they rose as one and proceeded to dance like mental monkeys on banana juice! What a reaction! Ruarri`s performnace was in keeping with his others; full of good humour, catchy tunes and a wonderful singing voice, but there was something in the air tonight and madness gripped the fans as they jigged around laughing like drains at the pure joyfulness of the situation. I even saw my first example of a musician dancing in the crowd...

POWDERSTRIP

Well what can you say? This certainly was different! Female drummer and female keyboardist in cat masks and bizarre costumes, plus a dreadlocked male bassist in evening wear. Visually in a league of their own this evening, and performance-wise; certainly memorable.

The lead vocals were straight from the Kate Bush songbook with a touch of the PJ Harveys about them and using both your elbows and feet to play a keyboard could be considered a little unusual, (unless you`d seen Lennon at Shea). Lending a lot to the theatrical nature of performance rather than the muso, Powderstrip did however create some stunning music. I`m in need of their upcoming e.p. to make my mind up about this band - this might be a Marmite moment!

TOM MOUNSEY

Tom`s style of slide guitar and foot-stomping blues is always welcome where good music and great musicians are in attendence and tonight was no exception. Thankfully not breaking strings like he did at this summer`s Boscowen Park Festival, Tom took the audience to another place with his raw and honest performance on the acoustic stage.

With many fans in the room, he was given a warm welcome and kept the audience`s feet stomping along with his own as he entertained.

ES VEDRA

Two girls and two boys took their seats on stage and opened the evening on the mainstage with a relaxed performance that showed how comfortable and professional this band of folk-tinged artists truely are. Multiple lead vocalists and beautiful tunes were the order of the day and the growing audience appreciated them both as the night started on a high note

SAM TAYLOR

Sam Taylor really started the evening`s entertainment off on the acoustic stage with his fancy fretwork style that took many by surprise. A little more of an introduction and we would`ve all known what was going on, but this is my only niggle of the night, (perhaps a mobile MC darting from one stage to the other would`ve helped, I dunno), and Sam soon had us entranced with his playing anyway.

From slapping the guitar for rhythm to the fast fingerwork on the strings, Sam Taylor`s tunes had no need of lyrics to portray the emotional nature of his style. An excellent start to the night.

(Photos by Lord Itchfield)