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Your
first gig is usually unforgettable.
Listening to music considerably louder than your parents would allow
and drinking cheap cider in a rainy Granby Halls car park. Mine,
was Carter USM sometime in 1992, yes it was raining and yes I was
drunk.
So
ironically enough I stand now in The Charlotte, wiser and sober
than I was 12 years ago to witness ABDOUJAPAROV.
Named after a cyclist from Uzbekistan, the band is the new musical
incarnation of one half of the unstoppable sex machine.
It's
a Wednesday night, football tomorrow and The Charlotte is empty.
Although thin on the crowd, the smattering of punters didn't put
off first band Ego Marmalade.
Sounding
like Deep Purple having a food fight with the Beach boys whilst
Jet smears them in jelly, musically, they pack a fruity punch.
The energy at the start of the set took the roof, but three songs
in they were all puffed out. Whether their eccentric mix will get
them anywhere more than the back rooms of pubs, who knows, I hope
they prove me wrong.
Purple
Patch seemed to go on forever; every song drudged into the next.
Their melancholy- moody- struggling- look at me- artist's ballads
came across a little pretentious.
The singer tried his best to command the small crowd but they didn't
seem too endeared to this Jim Morrison-esque wannabe. A little disappointing
after Ego Marmalade had tried so hard.
Les
Fruitbat has aged as well as me. With a larger band than the last
time I saw him and dressed with the immortalised cycling cap ABDOUJAPAROV
take the stage.
ABDOUJAPAROV
have created a sound that has given them a fan base based on they
own merit. They have plenty of good songs that are full of well-written
tongue in cheek lyrics that we came to expect with the unstoppable
sex machine.
'Innes', 'Monster in my Garden' and 'Beer Scooter' to name a few.
A couple of punk covers thrown in for good measure, the small audience
was up and dancing.
ABDOUJAPAROV
aren't chart material and I don't think they want to be, but punky
well crafted and well penned pop. Which offers a good example to
these young whippersnappers, even though it may sound a little dated
today.
Respect
your elders; they have been there. Like a good cheese or Christmas
cake, they get better with age. Cider anyone?
Dan
Edwards
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