Support act – THE CORAL SEA (Rey Villalobos – Vox/Rhythm Guitar/Keyboard, Duncan Wright – Lead & Ambient Guitar, James Garza – Bass Guitar, Matthew Talmage – Drums & Percussion), are a fresh sounding four-piece band from California, currently over in the UK to promote their single “Look at her face”. The band are signed to Hidden Agenda records and although they have only been together for a year, are already soaring through the music industry both in America and now here in the UK, playing venues in Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, London, York & Cardiff. Singer Rey’s vocals could be compared to that of Brian Molko of Placebo while the tracks themselves expose emotional (but not EMO!), melancholic melodies, with uplifting choruses and solid drums. The crowd were a little unresponsive to the black outfit clad band at first, which encouraged more banter from the band such as the fact that Rey had only had beans on toast (proper English grub??) to eat all day, and was now feeling a little shaky. Maybe this was what caused him to cut his finger open on his guitar string later in the set as he thrashed around the stage. Ouch! | "the tracks themselves expose emotional (but not EMO!), melancholic melodies, with uplifting choruses and solid drums" | |
The band played a superb six-track set. However, since listening to a copy of their album “Volcano and Heart” (reaching a Number 2 slot in the Top 10 albums of 2005, out of Norway) it is evident that the band produce their studio work to an industry standard. It incorporates a warm blend of string quartet and trumpet, driving an orchestral surge to the tracks. This is a great band who I expect to see taking off very quickly in the UK this summer. Well worth checking out if you get the opportunity! A very different sound followed from Leeds based headline act iLiKETRAiNS – (Guy Bannister – Guitar/Keys, Alistair Bowes – Bass Guitar, Ashley Dean – Images/Cornet, Simon Fogal – Drums, David Martin – Guitar/Vox). Dressed in British Rail uniforms and unkempt hair, the band shook up the crowd with a blast of explosive drums and furious guitars forming the opening of their dynamic set. The use of a low-fi video reel to project visuals of historical events on to the back-drop of the stage, combined with the eerie/mournfulness of the tracks, adds a theatrical element to the clearly thought out set. “A Rook House for Bobby” – (a tale depicting the life of Bobby Fischer, the troubled chess grandmaster) sold 500 copies within 2 days of release. The emotion-fuelled track left a shiver of goose-bumps as it rippled down your spine with the heart punching drums. “Citizen” twisted a jangled mess of distorted guitars and pumping drums, while “Terra Nova” and “Fram” formed a 2 part story of Captain Scott’s doomed 1912 Antarctic expedition. “Stainless Steele” had to be my favourite track of the whole night. Gentle, emotive guitars evolved to compliment the dark lyrics including the threateningly mysterious line “ don’t go in the kitchen, that’s where all the knives are kept and I won’t be held responsible…” The band entered their zone for the finale, the pinnacle of which saw them punish their instruments, creating massive amounts of distortion and squeezing every last noise possible. As a smirk crossed my face my instinctive thought was – this band rock! I was not the only one who thought so either as the crowd erupted with an excitable cheer. ILiKETRAiNS are currently embarking on their biggest tour so far, taking in much of the UK and then on to conquer Europe. Catch up on what you have been missing if you haven’t already done so. Interview with David Martin: E - So, 5th gig of the mammoth tour. How’s it gone so far? D - Tiring! And we still have so much more to do. We had a great gig at Aberdeen but it clashed with a Morrissey gig. We still got a good crowd though, and the Scots were very welcoming. E - Are you excited about crossing the sea to Europe? D - I have been practising my GSCE French, see if it works on stage. We are a very English band, so it will be interesting to see the reaction to us. E - How do you relax after gig like tonight? D - It’s really hard actually, we all find it very difficult to sleep as we’re all worked up. E - What did you think to your support band this evening? D - We thought they were good. Very friendly. A very different style to us though. E - If you could support any band, who would it be? D - Morrissey, Sigur Ross, Nick Cave or Radiohead E - What has been and what would be your ideal venue? D - Has been Fibbers, Leeds Brudenell Social Club, oh and can I also have The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen. Ideal would be Birmingham Symphony Hall or any theatre. E - Just out of interest and also because I’m really hungry, what did you have for tea tonight? D - We actually ate in here. We had Chilli Con Carne with rice and tortilla’s. Was nice but not hot enough. Maybe that was a good thing though with me being on stage. Mmmmm maybe it wasn’t distortion from the instruments…… parp! Emma Jackson | 
