A at Islington Academy

A – Islington Academy – 9 December 2009

Support: Stars Of The Search Party, This City, Kids In Glass Houses

Words Eric Cannon / photo’s by Brendan Monteiro

Stars Of The Search Party get things in motion this evening, it’s their launch party for new album ‘Lost In The Dust: Pt ll’ and the enthusiasm is apparent on stage. With such a sparkling line up tonight it seemed it may have been a difficult job starting the proceedings but SOTSP step up to the plate and play a tight set and suprise a lot of the older part of this crowd.

This City bombard the stage and in an instant their distinct dancey burst of energy get the venue buzzing. Their beats are infectious and line’s like “please crush my ego and not my heart” from Loaded Guns are constantly echoing in head for the rest of the evening. This City has got to be one of the most promising bands in the UK at the moment and it is only a matter of time that the likes of We Move will be invading the radio waves.

Kids In Glass Houses are a late entry to the bill but might be due to the fact that Jason Perry has a link to the band. I am very unfamiliar with their material but as the first notes resonate from their instruments and find their way to my ears I am completely gobsmacked. They are as tight as sardines in a can and their sound is as crisp as a morning breeze sending chills down my spine, I can’t explain enough about how amazing their sound was. Aled leads the way and is the quintessential frontman, commanding the attention of every audience member. His stage presence reminds me a lot of Adam Lazzara in the way he invokes so much passion into his singing. Like I said before I am not familiar with their material but I do know that they have a new album coming out soon and it’s already on my wish list.

Tonight’s headliners are A and it seems like the majority are old school fans and the band seem to play accordingly. A vast majority of the set is made up of ‘A’ vs Monkey Kong with sprinkles of their hit album Hi Fi Serious and their last album Teen Dance Ordinance. Rush Song might not have got the acclaim it deserved at the time of it’s release but it’s hard edge rock sound has arms punching the sky tonight. Foghorn is the only song from How Ace Are Buildings but it is definitely one of the standout songs for, with Jason getting his punk on being a classic polaroid moment. Jason co-produced How Ace Are Buildings with Thom Wilson (Offspring – Smash) and it’s only after finding out this bit of info that the resemblance’s make more sense. They finish off the set with Nothing and an encore of Something’s Going On that almost brings down the house, there was a final song but I have no idea what it was and on trying to find out I could not reach any conclusion. I did manage to see a print of the setlist which had the last song as POB, any ideas?

The most notable part of the evening for me however has to be the point where Jason states that A are not trying to be rock stars in any way and that tonight’s show is more like a golf weekend for the band. Meaning that this is something these guys love to do, they did this show for themselves and the fans that truly love them. Something so pure and honest as this gesture is rarely seen with many bands and it’s always nice to know that the bands we love are all just like us anyway.

Setlist: If It Ain’t Broke Fix It Anyway, Monkey Kong, Starbucks, Old Folks, Rush Song, Going Down, Good Time, I love Lake Tahoe, The Distance, Foghorn, Nothing Something’s Going On, POB

Posted on Wednesday, 9 December 2009 in Live Reviews, Mainarticles | 3 Comments »
Tagged as A, Adam Perry, Aled Phillips, Andrew Shay, Arran Day, Chris Purr, George Travis, Giles Perry, Grant Coleman, Iain Mahanty, Jason Perry, Joel Fisher, John Mitchel, Kids In Glass Houses, Mark Chapman, Philip Jenkins, Stars Of The Search Party, This City