With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

This was yet another show put together by Mr. Northern Radar, Simon Pattinson. He has never let me down yet, would this show change that? Read on to find out. First up was Vagabonds, a band that felt very much like a good school band. To put that into context I had been a judge at the school I work at Battle of the Bands contest the day before this show. They hit the ground running with a fiery cover of the Beastie Boys huge hit “Fight For Your Right”. The first original they played had the feel of early Sex Pistols recordings like the tracks on the ‘Spunk’ bootleg album. Soon after that Vagabonds chose to cover the Oasis song “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” – NOOOOOOOOOOOO you don’t need Oasis songs in your set, you are so much better than that. The covers of Green Day, Blink 182, Kiss and the Sex Pistols were ace and closing with a raucous cover of Slade’s “Merry Christmas Everybody” was a master stroke. This band has great potential and my advice is ditch the Oasis cover and get some more original songs.

The second band to take the stage was the Double Yellows. Their originals were reminiscent of two bands that I have never been a huge fan of, the Pigeon Detectives and Scouting For Girls, however the saving grace is they the Double Yellows took a much deeper and effective post-punk direction. The band clearly brought a great following with them and they were all ready to party. Their fans seem to be mounting a campaign to bring the mullet back, yes really! Their bass player is incredibly talented with shades of Jah Wobble, Stanley Clarke and Mark King in his style. The have the swagger and confidence of a good rock band and just like the Vagabonds they have great potential, but again please ditch Oasis, the closing cover of “Supersonic” really wasn’t needed.

I find it shocking and sad that so many people come to a gig and fuck off after “their band” has played. Quite a lot of punters seemed to do just that after the Double Yellows. If you were among them you missed an absolute treat of a funky, heavy and fun set from Asylum. Musically this bunch were faultless and seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. They whipped the crowd that remained into a minor, but absolute frenzy. Thankfully their set did not include an Oasis cover! This is the only Asylum you need in your life and with them there is no need to wear a strait jacket or live in a padded cell, unless that kind of thing floats your boat! Some of the punters who left earlier did return, somewhat rain soaked, later in the set. It was clear that Asylum came to bring a party to the Fulford Arms and they had one, they even threw in some Christmas songs! Once again Northern Radar pull off a great night, cheers Simon P!

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