Southampton’s Engine Rooms is a quirky venue – hidden on an industrial estate – somewhat like a small warehouse, hangar or barn even, with mod-cons such as galvanised air-con tubes on the ceiling and an illuminated bottle-bar and cloakroom. There’s some kind of ‘50s Country music playing in the background, the kind that you might find in an old film that airs on a Sunday afternoon, or the sort that Wednesday Addams might like to dance to, but tonight is Saturday (how many days of the week it’s possible to fit in here?) the first band PISTOLS AT DAWN has played already and judging by the excited level of babbling coming from the crowd, the smiling faces and the busy merchandise table, they appear to have done their job of opening well!
MOON FEVER
The room is dark when the slow drum beats begin and there are sounds of a guitar crashing into life when suddenly the lights go up – just a little, mainly red – as the remaining band members strut into place. The shade-sporting singer’s skeleton-gloved hand shoots up in the air as the rhythmic beat of the song kicks in and there’s already a steady nod about the audience who are filling the venue around half-full. This isn’t enough for vocalist Tristan Bracht and it’s clear he is going to use all of the ‘quiet time’ between lyrics to rouse the crowd before him. “Are you here to have a good time tonight?” he probes “Well we’re here to have an even better time!” and there’s a marked shuffle forwards by the onlookers as they cheer back. The bass sound has really kicked in for the second song ‘Nothing Left To Lose’ and it takes a moment or two for the sound desk to dial the vocals up a notch but as soon as this happens the song goes from strength to strength with backing vocals lending a shouty Death growl from the bass player’s direction and the floorboards of the building working a treat to send reverberations through every body in the room. Moon Fever has gathered both an interested and interesting crowd, it’s as though the venue has emptied out its Goth-pockets and sent the contents scuttling in-beat to see what’s occurring. Main vocals switch to include some grit as the set goes on and the requests for all hands up in the air is met with enthusiasm. The band are from Seattle and possess that coveted sound haze and laid-back stage presence, they really do make it look easy as the music gets wilder and the riffs tumble down. “Are you still f*cking alive out there?” they joke just before fifth song ‘Getting Loud’ which seems to start a little chaotic but soon finds its flow as the guitar kicks in and when the singer takes to the floor barrier for a moment, the crowd follow him. The energy that this front man has ploughed into this set has paid off and there’s something suitably old-school about this gig, the absence of phones in the air for a start, it’s a treat to witness people just letting loose and enjoying themselves, it really does have the feeling of a teen-spirit -video with the lighting and the fact that this venue feels somewhat like a high-school gym with those picnic benches in front of the bar acting as bleachers, but there’s a much better range of ages here tonight and the energy is high. The singer may have started with neatly slicked back hair `a la Boris Karloff but by the time the band launch into final song ‘Feels So Good’ it’s been shaken out every bit as much as his hips. A great set!
REVIEW: SUZI BOOTZ
MOON FEVER is:
Tristan Bracht – Vocals
Mitch Micoley –Guitar
Dave Orton – Bass & Backing Vocals
Troy Wagerman – Drums
SET LIST
- Skin
- Nothing Left To Lose
- Heavy Sad
- Satan Loves Me
- Sinner
- Getting Loud
- Forever Sleep
- Feels So Good
DES ROCS
New York, New York blares as a welcome intro track across the sound system for the big apple band. High-ponytailed William Tully takes to the drum kit at one side of the stage in a white vest and jean combo whilst bassist Eric Mendelsohn dressed in a stark contrast of all black (even the long hair and beard) appears at the other. Main man Danny Rocco sweeps on to a frenzy of cheering and wastes no time in kicking off with ‘Dream Machine’, it isn’t 2:10 in the morning but it may as well be since the next hour and a half are going to pass in a blur of fully-pumped Rock ‘n’ Roll . Every bit the Rock star with his upturn-collared leather jacket and a firm clutch on his guitar, DR checks in with the crowd halfway through the first song. There’s no break before second song ‘Wayne’ which begins faster and more Elvis-like in tone (though it’s doubtful the king would be able to quiver his knees fast enough to keep up) it’s another crowd pleaser with air punches to the chorus of “Tell me, who the hell am I?” whilst the musicians are fully absorbed in every moment and look as though they may well have been born on that stage. “Are you ready? I’m just getting started, are YOU ready?” screams showman DR, the energy from this band is borderline insane and it snakes its way into the audience with every interaction. ‘Through the Darkness’ starts with a humming buzz before flitting to a Queen-esque theatrical number, it’s only the third song in and the crowd are singing by themselves on command with every band member pumping away at their instrument and enjoying every moment. There are huge cheers and DR has to lose his leather jacket for the heat, he’s now wearing a black vest and takes on a more sombre quality as he speaks about Titanic before the band throw themselves into a next-level-impressive performance of the Underoath collab track ‘In the Night’. DR quickly pulls the mood back up with more audience participation that continues through the set “Oh we’ve got a rowdy bunch tonight! It’s Saturday night baby, we’ve worked all week for this!” During ‘White Gold’ some right-angled guitar slams are played midway through – possibly fielding off stuffed toys, but more on that later – demanding that the audience scream before the song continues, the band are totally in sync and enjoy teasing the crowd referring to Southampton in America as being “Bougie” whilst this one in the UK is “OG”.
There is a sweet if not surreal moment as DR shares a story about Union Square Park in NYC, strumming a lullaby-like melody on his guitar whilst talking the crowd through a visualization of where they’d all like to be in five years’ time and encouraging them to be a fly on the wall of their own future lives, it’s a message of perseverance and provides a good segue to the next song ‘Hanging On By A Thread” or as it turns out “Hanging on by a shark” as he notices a stuffed toy being waved in time. Anthemic ‘Never Ending Moment’ garners all of the oh-oh’s it could hope for and some echoey backing vocals from EM followed by a hefty dose of gratitude from DR as he introduces the band, the techs, and the whole crew with comedy, this signals a drum solo from WT during which he stands on his kit and keeps playing. The heavy riff of ‘I Am the Lightning’ crashes in and its DR’s time to show off, playing his guitar behind his back, not missing a note, despite the ceaseless pelvic thrusts. It’s a show with solid riffs and guitar solos that transports your brain to the hazy days of Hendrix but with massively modern moves. The band leave stage to huge cheers but it isn’t long before the “One more song” chant breaks out and they infact return to play two more. The first is a cover of Springsteen’s ‘Born to Run’ which they smash “Wait, did we really just do that?” DR laughs and then, after some imparted wisdom on the ritual of Rock ’n’ Roll it’s another gear shift to ‘Suicide Romantics’ which unsuspectingly results in a rat plushy (IKEA if you’re wondering) making a rather spectacular drum cameo.
Be sure to catch the Des Rocs’ band live whenever and wherever you can and until then, take a listen., you won’t regret doing either!
REVIEW: SUZI BOOTZ
DES ROCS is:
Danny Rocco – Lead Guitar & Vocals
William Tully – Drums
Eric Mendelsohn – Bass & Backing Vocals
SET LIST
- Dream Machine
- Wayne
- Used to the Darkness
- In the Night
- Natural Born Thriller
- Maybe, I
- White Gold
- Hanging By a Thread
- Never Ending Moment
- I am the Lightning
- HVY MTL DRMR
- Let me Live/ Let me Die
Encore:
- COVER: Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run
- Suicide Romantics
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