REVIEW: Liverpool Sound City 2010 – Day One
You know what I've got the best looking lawn on Merseyside
I spent Tuesday night pacing about the house, couldn't concentrate on anything for more than five minutes. My wife said 'come and sit down, relax', 'I can't' was my reply 'I'm going to water the grass'. Now of course it all makes sense.... Three words Liverpool, Sound,. City,. the four day celebration of music was un-caged and let loose on the city’s streets last night. The event - now in its third year - gets bigger and better every time and I, for one, couldn’t wait for it to kick off.
While quirky songstress Paloma Faith was wowing the Philharmonic audience with her unique style of music and theatrics much, much, more was going on around the city. It was difficult to walk a few hundred yards in the areas around Seel St, Parr St and Hardman St without a scream, shout, riff or heavy bassline catching your ear and drawing you into on of the multitude of venues employed for this year’s festival
Hannah's on Hardman St had bands across two floors and I caught Wrexham's hidden treasures The Roseville Band. They may be based in the North Wales town but there is a very strong Liverpool influence in their sound. Apparently dubbed 'the Welsh Kings of Leon’ by NME but I personally think that comparison is based very loosely around the family connections within the band, certainly not their music. The epic nature of their songs and melodies however were perhaps a bit too big for this intimate setting but extra marks for the inclusion of a two piece brass section. Definitely one to keep an eye on..
Australia’s Dappled Cities certainly had the shoegazers and head nodders gazing and well, nodding with extra verve, delivering a tight set at Mello Mello. The band and an ever increasing crowd crammed into the narrow bar for one of the highlights of the night. The band had even attracted a number of industry people who were furiously taking notes throughout the gig.
Liverpool’s best underground live venue Kazimier next where White Hinterland from Portland, Oregon dropped the tempo and mood down a quite a few notches. Working only by candlelight the band consists of Casey Dienel (vocals, music) and Shawn Creeden (techy stuff) and if ever there was a bloke who looked like he was from Portland, Oregon then Shawn is that man. Trucker cap, big beard, impossibly tall you get the picture. Their style could only be described as minimal pop with Dienel’s layered vocal loops complemented by Creeden’s itchy, scratchy Massive Attack beats and pulsing basslines. It was very interesting to watch how each track built to a crescendo and something you perhaps don’t appreciate when you listen to the bands recorded material.
Finally I made my way over to the Masque where British Sea Power had the large crowd eating out of their hands. Bass player Yan, who seemed to be dressed as Gary Kemp from Spandau Ballet in their heyday, started the chants of 'Easy, Easy, Easy’ as 'No Lucifer’ rocked the theatre. Meanwhile upstairs in the loft Martha Tilston (accompanied by three men sporting various headwear) was bringing the night to a close with her beautiful acoustic folk melodies.
A fabulous opening day for the festival and with the likes of Ian McCulloch, Wave Machines, Sound of Guns, Mercury winner Speech Debelle and hundreds more still to come the rest of the week looks to be very promising indeed.
Don’t forget you will need a wristband to enter most of the gigs, you can still pick one up at the special box office next to The Peacock on Seel St
Review by Rich Denton
www.liverpool-live.info