THREE TRAPPED TIGERS + BINARY TOAD + JAZZHANDS + ALPHA MALE TEA PARTY @ The shipping forecast 22/09-11
Dream-team Revo, Darren & Ellis together as Wingwalker presents bring this years sound city favourites three trapped tigers + local supports to the shipping forecast this gloomy Thursday.
Alpha Male Tea Party
First on the scene tonight is the three piece with the contradicting name “Alpha male tea party”, who describes themselves as unintentionally instrumental rock. Due to watching Oxjam festivals screening of cult film “Withnail & I” at FACT I arrive late in the boys set and only manage to watch 2 songs of the band. A shame really ‘cause what these boys are doing is just really enjoyable.
Despite being the first band on, the atmosphere of Alpha Male Tea Party is good and the Shipping Forecast already holds a number of people. An upside to this venue being its ability to seem quite packed without having to bring hundreds of people.
Guitarist Tom has some brilliant ideas and I really care for his playing. My favourite though is bass player Dan with his pedal board heaven that most of us could only have wet dreams about.
Heads are nodding and its never boring! Defo worth watching more then 2 songs. Sorry Alpha, I`ll catch all of it next time.
You can listen to Alpha male here: http://www.myspace.com/alphamaleteaparty
Jazzhands
Next up is psyche orange, polyrhythmic, tea-loving monster Jazzhands.
Promoting their music through various self-created YouTube videos on everything from “how to make a brew”, these guys have been making themselves a name on the Liverpool music scene the last half year.
The band consists of no less then three drummers, building all their harmonic information with only jazz & saxophone. Friend & co-manager Johnny, entertains the audience on keys with selected jazz classics in the bands brakes, giving the hole experience a bit more of a jazzy vibe. A sheer stroke of genius?
Starting of slightly milder then previous sets and with a slight slip in the drums-changeover in the beginning of their set, you could be led to think they might not be as on it as usual tonight. These thoughts are put to the wall in a blink of a second though as they start killing it.
Jazzhands are just well bloody good really. The rhythms are tight; George, the lovable, crazy bass frontman is his usual self, entertaining the audience with anecdotes in-between songs (though we could do to hear what he says in these brakes better), and there’s long hauling, short, hard shocks and excellent sax playing coming from Dominic Hulse.
There are times when the band could do with a bit more bass, but what can you do when your trying to overplay three drummers & a cracking sax`s players register in a venue such as Shipping. Cleverly introducing what sounds like familiar tunes such as classical Peter & the Wolf and circus themes into their own music, Jazzhands finish of their set slightly more grooving, slightly less heavy then usually and say goodbye with their tune “Nigel”.
Tonight not being their best performance ever says a lot as this was a bloody good gig. These boys have got it all, they manage to be unconventional yet commercial-friendly, fresh, charming and most important, friends. They are the type of band we all wanna be in. The one where everyone gets along, hangs out on their spare time and are in it for the love of it.
Jazzhands are slowly becoming my new favourite band on the Liverpool Music scene and I predict great things from these guys in the future.
You can listen to Jazzhands HERE: https://www.facebook.com/jazzhandsmusic
Binary Toad
I remember the first time I saw Binary Toad. This one single guy armed with a MacBook and his interface placed to entertain in the middle of a room, and I remember thinking “well good name”. Not completely sure, cause its a couple of years ago, but think it was at a Samizdat show at the Bluecoat playing amongst Chrik and the singer of what was then Indica Ritual.
Quite courageous you would think, to put on this kind of solo act to play straight after LOUD Jazzhands. You would expect the pressure on him to not drop the level coming in after no less then three drum kits, but Binary Toad rises to the challenge.
He puts ear catching repetitive melodies played live on a keyboard over simple programmed beats, while he stacks a whole load of interesting stuff in the middle yet still manages to avoid it from taking the focus of the main melody. And it works. Binary toads music spins you into a trance of listening and I find what he’s doing quite interesting. Its a ride and if you got you head in the right place you will enjoy it.
Listen to Binary toad`s track “To the Moribound” here to see what I mean: https://www.facebook.com/James01Binary
Seams.
Right. The moment you have been waiting for all night is here. Your favourite band from sound city festival is about to go on the stage after three local support acts.
You remember their killer gig at the Kazimier and you can hardly wait to get your ears ripped with those teeth moving melodies and sick beats of the drummer.
But what’s this. Another support act enters the stage with his MacBook, MPC & monome (an electronic instrument that looks like a huge Ipad with square buttons).
What I expected to only be some kind of intro for Three trapped after a while becomes clear that is another support act. And I’m not digging it.
In all means though, this might not just be Seams fault. I eventually find out that he’s the tour support of the band and has unfortunately gone on as the forth support tonight. Putting on ANOTHER unexpected support act before Three trapped tigers when the public is just waiting for the main band to go on is just a bit of a buzz-kill really. Though some people seem to be staying and enjoying I also see quite a few people leaving to get a drink in the bar upstairs or just take a time out from the hot room, and eventually have to succumb to a drink upstairs myself.
With three killer support acts and Three trapped tigers waiting to go on, putting Seams on stage is just a bit of an overkill.
Three trapped tigers
Man, Three trapped tigers.
I clearly remember this London math-trio as my favourite band at Liverpool Sound City this year and the intense dancing at the Kazimier when they went on after a set from Kurt Vile.
Finally, they begin to play.
An intense math-rock 3 headed monster with sick, but beautiful guitar riffs and intense syncopated and inventive (the drummer actually played a small chain of tiny bells on top of the tom at a point) beats. Their drummer is just a machine. Just look at his broken cymbal. That sounds awesome btw. Absolutely killing it and spot on tight as most drummers could only dream of to play like. New favourite drummer ever. In some songs it sounds like he and the guitarist is living out their own playing in two different worlds, but still happen to be on the same page. Three trapped tigers are together, so intensely musically, that you could believe they were three hearts and one mind. The crowd loves them and their love is clearly mutual, as they apologize for being late and announce their Liverpool Sound city gig at the Kazimier this year to have been their unexpected favourite at the time-being tour, and that Manchester “has never really been that good to us really”.
This of course goes down well with the Liverpool crowd.
Not strangely enough they announce they will be coming back to play in November this year, (Liverpool music week I presume).
Though this gig does not live up to their intensely sweaty, monster of dancing people of a gig at the Kazimer, it is still good and well worth screwing the buss and taking a cab home for just to be able to watch all of it. The shipping forecast is a different scenery then the massive Kazimier and people are more static and not as let loose here which naturally affects the atmosphere. That being said some people are still starting a mosh during the last couple of songs and a unfortunate guy manages to be pushed onto stage, to quickly huddle down again in embarrassment.
Three trapped tigers finish of with their latest single, the crowd goes wild and they wish everyone welcome back in November.
I personally, have got my freshly bought vinyl of their latest album “Route one or die” signed by my new favourite drummer, ready to come back in November.
You can listen to Three trapped tigers HERE: https://www.facebook.com/#!/threetrappedtigers
- Veslemoy Rustad Holseter (Stay tuned for Male Bonding!)
(photography by Veslemoy Rustard Holseter)
