GIGS IN FEBRUARY 2007

THE BAND CLUB, ST.AUSTELL (24TH FEBRUARY)

THE KULT

Let me lay my cards on the table first; I`m not a fan of tribute bands. Well let me be more precise; I`m not a fan of tribute bands of bands you can still see in the flesh. I`ve got time for the ones who give you something you can`t get from the originals because they`re dead, but when the real band is still touring, it seems a tad crap to watch a copy. A "cheap immitation, son of fake," as The Sid Presley Experience once said. However, against my better judgement and with hopes of a similar experience to The Bootleg Beatles/T-Rextacy tribute bands, I was dragged along to see this lot.

The Saturday night was wet and windy, (which helped), the venue was the social club known as St.Austell`s Band Club, (which more linked to brass band music officially than the regular tribute acts that play there), and tonight`s tribute band was called The Kult. Can you guess who they were a tribute to, boys and girls? The answer would seem pretty obvious from the name, but I bet you couldn`t have guessed if you`d only been able to see them.

Their line up appeared to contain a chunky, dehydrated Axl Rose on vocals, a nervous cowboy version of John Power (from Cast/La`s) on one guitar and James Dreyfus (TV gay actor from Gimme, Gimme, Gimme & Rowan Atkinson`s Thin Blue Line cop comedy), playing the part of a camp Billy Duffy on the other guitar. What ex-Man U star Eric Cantona was doing on the drums was anyone`s guess. It was a truely bizarre sight.

That said, the band played well to a half empty room which contained maybe three or four Cult fans, (well done if you guessed correctly!), and there was even a spate of dancing girlies by the last few numbers. Sound-wise, the band were pretty close to the originals and played many album tracks mixed in with the hit singles that showed they had a real love of the band. The hits were nailed, as you would expect, (with the exception of `She Sells Sanctuary`) and the job was done.

Overall I`d say that the band were average and the audience worse. I`d say they deserved each other, but the imbalance would make that untrue. As a tribute act, the sound was fine, the visuals less so.

At £6 per non-member, I have to say I`ve seen better for a lot less.

www.thekult-tribute.co.uk

THE SWAN INN, TRURO (5TH FEBRUARY)

BLINDFOLD GARDEN

Not the first time I'd seen Blindfold Garden but the first time I've been compelled to write a review of the band as they are one of the finest this county has produced. They swaggeringly took to the stage to belt through the first five songs in their set with barely a pause for breath. Their sound is hard to define, although they seem to wear their influences on their sleeves (The Smiths & Queens of the Stone Age are the obvious examples), but their mix of old and new pays off, merging uplifting and floating melodies with powerful riffs and noise, often in the course of the same song (check out the 7- minute epic Nazi Sinatra for a perfect example of how to balance the two). Martyn Whitfords' bass-lines are reminiscent of Peter Hooks' chorus-laden sound, while Jason Brown could out-do Keith Moon (clearly his idol) on drum fills and prescence alone. Kevin Pearce showed promise on lead guitar, his first gig with the band, mixing Pink Floyd-esque effect work with crushing power chords while Bryn Powell filled the pub with his honeyed vocals (Morrissey, anyone?) and solid rhythm guitar. Not even a technical problem with the mic during the last song could stop their hour-long set from being tight, raucous, exhilarating and beautiful all mixed into one. All this and their first gig with a new guitarist.

The future is bright.

www.myspace.com/blindfoldgarden2007

ELUSIS

The Swan's Broken Egg Night has always attracted talented bands and this evenings proceedings were no exception. The gig kicked off with Elusis, a 5-piece band formed 18 months ago, and very pleasant on the ears they were too. Imagine a funkier Incubus with a hint of A Perfect Circle and you're almost there. Rogans' drums and Matts' Bass were locked tightly while Sonny and Ash layered guitar melodies over the top in epic and sweeping movements. The lead singer, Ray, had some interesting stage mannerisms and kept the audience watching. If there was any criticism, I would say they lacked a few 3-minute rock blasts to keep their set moving along, but I couldn't fault them on sound and performance. One to look out for.

www.myspace.com/elusisband

(Review by David Borden/Photos by Nathan Lance)