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[idol_wild]

I got very little out of last night.

Because I was playing football beforehand, I arrived just as The Little Kicks were finishing up. Thought they sounded grittier and more energetic as a three-peice actually. I know Toby won't want to read that, but hey Not many bands in Aberdeen can boast a voice as strong as Steven Milne's either. Never a duff note. It's enough to make a grown man jealous.

I really really really expected to fall in love with We Were Promised Jetpacks. Indeed, I have enquired several times over the past six months as to their availibility to come up and play a show but their drummer was unavailable for ages. But..I just didn't get in to their set. As I suspected from countless listens on their myspace, Quiet Little Voices is the only stand-out track they have. Just an ordinary indie-pop band, who clearly harbour ambitions to sound exactly like Frightened Rabbit. Does anyone else think the singer looked like a chunky version of the guitarist from The Twilight Sad? Are they brothers? Twins?

Frightened Rabbit are a band suited to smaller, intimate gigs. The sound was terrible - I could hardly hear it and I was situated at the back of the floor area, directly in front of the sound desk. Didn't help that the majority of the crowd were chatting away, but to me it seemed like the band were just going through the motions a little bit. So I left after the fifth song - I was bored. That said, I was told by someone who arrived for the last three songs of the set that the sound was loud and concise, so maybe the engineer cleaned his act up a little?

[KarmaTsunami]

i'm with you on the sound being pretty bad for the first half of the set...i was at the front and even there it just seemed really quiet, drums and vocals over everything else...but i know jack shit about sound engineering, so that's just my opinion. i think by the time they played 'The Twist' everything sharpened up and I really got into it after that. I would have been gutted if the whole set had sounded like the first couple songs.

[idol_wild]

Originally Posted by KarmaTsunami

i'm with you on the sound being pretty bad for the first half of the set...i was at the front and even there it just seemed really quiet, drums and vocals over everything else...but i know jack shit about sound engineering, so that's just my opinion. i think by the time they played 'The Twist' everything sharpened up and I really got into it after that. I would have been gutted if the whole set had sounded like the first couple songs.

Ah well, I probably should have stayed, 'cos I think it was by the end of The Twist that I left.

Still. A professional sound engineer really ought to be nailing the band he's touring with during the soundcheck with only slight tweaks required during the set.

[hopeisimportant]

I thought it was an excellent gig last night. We Were Promised Jetpacks were really lively which made me enjoy them a lot. Frightened Rabbit did start off slow but by the end of their set I didn't want them to finish.

Great decision to go along!

[treader.]

agreed. the sound was total guff until Keep Yourself Warm. but i still enjoyed what i was hearing.


that fourth member though...gave off a level of onstage awkwardness not seen since Keesher played with Point of Origin!

[Alkaline]

Originally Posted by ed howson

that fourth member though...gave off a level of onstage awkwardness not seen since Keesher played with Point of Origin!

Hahahahahahaha

Dammit i can't give you rep for that

[Shakermaker]

I thought Frightened Rabbit were amazing! Loved Head Rolls Off, The Twist and Poke. I quite liked We Were Promised Jetpacks, hadn't heard any of their songs before so didn't really know what to expect. Little Kicks were alright too.

Only problem was trying to buy drink!! One drink per person unless the people you were buying for were with you at the bar!! That was an absolute joke.

[idol_wild]

Originally Posted by Shakermaker

Only problem was trying to buy drink!! One drink per person unless the people you were buying for were with you at the bar!! That was an absolute joke.

I'm with you on that one. Absolute sham. Everytime I go to Moshulu I have a minimum of a 10 minute wait for a beer. Last night I refused to wait any longer. So I had only two pints, rather than maybe five or six. Moshulu should perhaps take this into consideration and employ more bar staff, or more competent bar staff who can recognise the order of customers.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one who wanted a few more drinks than were reasonably attainable.

Strange venue. I'm not sure I'll ever warm to it.

[Steven Milne]

Last night was great , thanks to anyone who came down early and listened to our set.

I think thats the last time well play as a three piece, its fun and all that but we do miss I toby.

Some songs work and some dont but it isnt the same without him.Bits just suddenly appear when you think oh god why does it sound empty! overall i enjoyed playing but im looking forward to taking a self imposed break from playing the deen after november.

People are probably sick of the sight of us and itd be good to go away and finish our new stuff and wait a while before coming back to refresh our enjoyment of playing here/ aberdeen punters interest in our set.

We were promised jetpacks - i really enjoyed, third time ive seen them and although they were better at connect they are a fun band to watch. drummer is like an octopus.

frabbit - really enjoyed, poke was a highlight, would have killed for a "be less rude"!
the twist is such a good song live, and i have a new love for the "keep yourself warm" now.

I thought it was a great night.

as for the bar staff issue - sorry, its wristband everyone at the entrance for them to get served (which takes ages and is pointless when only 10% of the venue - if that- are under 18) or just id at the bar.

and last night the bar was shortstaffed due to illness i believe.

will pass feedback onto bar managers although im sure theyll read this.

to be honest, i dont think anyone expected it to be as rammed as it was!
least of all the band....the frabbit boys were overjoyed.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Shakermaker

Only problem was trying to buy drink!! One drink per person unless the people you were buying for were with you at the bar!! That was an absolute joke.

2 situations that happened at a gig last night.

Situation 1: You're 18-21, and in your group is a 17 year old who can't buy alcohol. 17's close enough, so you or a mate go buy them a pint.

You know what happens there? At the very minimum, I'll get fired for not following policy, but I'll probably be liable for a fine too, as the one who supplied the alcohol.. You get fined £1000 for buying alcohol for someone under 18. The licensee gets fined £2500 and loses their license. Barfly fires them, and potentially loses their business because they'll have a very hard time trying to get another entertainments licence in Aberdeen.

Situation 2: You get ID'd, go on and on about being 24 but don't have any ID to back this up, so you get someone else to buy you a drink.

Not as serious, because hopefully you can prove your age later, but you and the other person will be ejected immediately, potentially banned for not adhering to managements rules. I get crap from you probably, from security for allowing alcohol to be passed, from the licensee, who is shitting themselves that you're not of age. Or whichever member of bar staff who is responsible for you acquiring a drink will get torn a new one for putting the whole company at risk for the sake of a £2.50 can of Red Stripe.


I'm not saying you were trying to buy for someone underage, 99% of people aren't, but unfortunately it's one rule for all.
You know what's actually an absolute joke? Customers who think their right to buy 2 drinks instead of 1 should be more important to me than my job/risk of prosecution.
Thank god for the right to refuse service.


On the topic of the lack of staff, the estimated attendance based on presales was alot less than the numbers that turned out, and staffing costs restrict us to 1 member of staff per x amount estimated to attend. The x here is not a number I'm happy with in any way, but that's a 'powers that be' grumble... Anyway, it's one of those things that happens from time to time, not alot can be done about it.

As a fan, I was just happy for the band that there was a really good turn out, and if I was on the other side of the bar, I'd have been paying more attention to them than my undying need for beer in the bar queue.