Seachange - suffering for their art

Local band about to make good? Could be. The A&R reps are sniffing around Seachange.

Neil Heath's been to see what all the fuss is about.

The last time I went to Rock City I couldn't get in. I was too smart.

Apparently it would cause too much conflict with the Saturday night clientele. So when I went last Saturday (2nd February), I was suitably scruffy. Later a man in a suit walked past me!

This was the first time 'Seachange' headlined at Rock City. They were supported by another Nottingham band 'The Grips', who describe their music as a mixture of punk and garage.

The Grips didn't look like punks in the traditional sense, infact the lead singer looked like he'd been plucked from the queue of a trendy nightclub.

The most curious thing about the band was their drummer. At the start he sported a curly yellow wig and round glasses. Later as the songs crashed by, he slowly revealed his true self: a bald bloke with 'gimme a hug' scrawled on his chest. Punks it seems, have mellowed significantly.

The Grips seemed to be musically sound, although I didn't have a clue what they were singing about. I also don't think the crowd knew what to make of them, each song's finish was greeted by claps of courtesy more than anything else.

Very arty - Seachange - building up to success (ho ho)

At one point the lead singer demanded 'thunder', the crowd gave him an embarrassed silence.

With the arrival of 'Seachange' the floor filled. Since the first time I saw them to this point, their fan base has easily trebled.

From the moment they started to bang out the first track to the last, the crowd are greeted to a wall of sound that sears through your body. You're left thinking, "I'm going to enjoy this".

One thing you notice about Seachange is how exhausted they get, they exert so much energy, giving a new meaning to the statement, 'suffering for your art'.

Guitarist, Adam, has previously come away with his hands bleeding, he'd played his guitar so hard.

The lead singer, Dan, is a very good frontman. He has a swagger about him and his singing sounds perfect with the music they bang out. However one criticism of Dan, is that he has the same haircut as Dave Hill from Slade.

I expect big things for 'Seachange', although they won't be thinking about that, they just enjoy themselves.

They have acquired a manager who once looked after 'The Wildhearts', and a representative of Sereophonics label 'V2' was there on Saturday, I guess he was the one in the suit.