Classic Plastic / Seattle Yacht Club / Fox In The City / The Frenzied Anaesthetist

Classic Plastic / Seattle Yacht Club / Fox In The City / The Frenzied Anaesthetist

Date: 26 July 2013

Location: Blind Tiger Club, Brighton

Support: technically those last three were the support

Special guests: creepy old guy who tried to convince us to stay afterwards, saying there would be ‘more bands’

I just booked tickets to see Rick Wakeman’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth next May, which will be a kind of live extravaganza, with a giant stage set made up of mountains and elves and stuff, and about six different orchestras. This show I saw on Friday night was the complete opposite – tiny wooden stage, no set, never more than six people up there at one time. And instead of everyone sitting down and paying attention, there was a lot of jumping and moving about, going to get drinks, talking and shouting. So yeah, not necessarily worse, but very different.

Probably worse, though, let’s not lie.

I’ll talk about these bands one at a time since they can’t really be condensed into one chunk of review.

The Frenzied Anaesthetist

Not to be confused with the Genesis song ‘The Supernatural Anaesthetist’, this group of four guys play a fairly typical garage rock/hard rock sound that’s not offensive but is difficult to get excited about. On most songs the drums were completely overpowering and drowned out the rest of the music, which was a shame because they had an interesting twin lead guitar/twin lead vocal lineup on some of the songs which I would have liked to hear. On the opposite end of the scale was the bass player who might as well have not been there for all the influence he had on the proceedings – I don’t think I saw him do anything for the entire set. But none of them really acknowledged the audience; they played and talked more to each other, like they were rehearsing in a room at home. I’d call them a pretty standard opening act. Some good beats, but you can’t imagine them ever playing to a sold out crowd.

Fox In The City

I’d never heard of this band before the night, and after being uninspired by the first group, I wasn’t expecting a lot. However, I was really pleasantly surprised! They were an entirely instrumental rock band, kind of like Liquid Tension Experiment but slightly less virtuosic. I don’t know if they couldn’t sing or just didn’t want to, but either way it’s a more challenging genre to take on, and I think they succeeded. They actually had three guitarists, which at times brought some really cool and unique combinations of effects to the proceedings – like if one had a really bright tone, one was plugged into a fuzz pedal and the third was creating feedback or doing something else entirely. They could have varied the thickness of the sound a little more and added some solos, as I noticed they were all playing together almost all the time. Their final song (out of just four) stood out to me as particularly strong. It was very diverse, starting off in a soft, dream-pop kind of style and then moving into something almost heavy metal, before a section of what I’m calling melodic goth rock and then back to dreamy and quiet to finish. I don’t know what it was called but I’d like to. Would see again.

Seattle Yacht Club

I was very interested to see whether this band would have four guitars, if they were going up each time, but sadly they didn’t – just a duo with one guitarist, one keyboardist and an electronic drum machine. Small problem with this review: I actually wasn’t paying attention to most of the set because I was ‘being soclal’ and ‘engaging in conversation’ (these are things I don’t often do). I heard enough to brand them as a homegrown lo-fi indie pop band, and to say that they seemed pleasant without being captivating. However, they apparently have songs released on iTunes, so for more in-depth analysis you can download these and then write your own review on the following lines.

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Use a second sheet of paper if necessary.

Classic Plastic

I actually paid attention here, since I already knew some of their songs and so I knew I’d enjoy them. I was not disappointed by their translation to the stage. They were clearly the most technically skilled musicians of the night as well as the most experienced – the actually interacted with the crowd (the room suddenly filled up just before they came on stage) and for the first time, I was really watching them play the music rather than just listening to the music. They all wore awesome paisley shirts and mixed the energy and raw power of a Sixties garage band with the frills and gimmicks and tricky time signatures of classic prog and it’s a wonderful combination, sure to appeal to anybody who likes their music a bit alternative and left of the mainstream while still retaining song structure and melody. Oh, and they have to be OK with hearing it at a volume that’ll leave their ears ringing all night. I like the noise, though, the way the band is in your face and not afraid to demand all of your attention. At the end of the set the busy stage (six of ‘em) descended into anarchy and there was some smashing of instruments reminiscent of a few old rock icons. When picking my favourite band of the night, I think the unexpected twists and turns in Classic Plastic’s songs elevates them to the top for me. They have an EP coming out later this year, I just learned, and I’m definitely going to get it. I’d happily pay to see them live again at some point in the future.