Deborah McArthur reports on her latest adventure out at King Tuts.
Saturday night. King Tuts’ £5 gig ticket—3 bands for the price of one (cheap) cocktail. I love it!
First up was a new band called Paws, who are doing the rounds and were on 6music the 6th August. They were not bad. I could hear influences of Nirvana, Greenday and Blink 182 . The lead singer was interesting to watch, but unfortunately there weren’t that many people watching them. The lead singer was very enthusiastic and at one point came right out to the (small) audience and played his guitar. It would have been fantastic if there was a crowd, but it actually just made the 16 of us feel a little uncomfortable. Except for one (possibly drunk) guy who thought this was pure genius! I wouldn’t say they were at all individual with their sound but there must be room for another punk rock band, seeing as they are getting coverage on the BBC. Nothing I would rush back to see again though.
After them was Miss Occupier. The lead singer was completely glammed up and looked fantastic. However, this didn’t fit in with the style of the other two male members of the group, who were extremely casually dressed. Once the band started performing, it was blatant that the male members were only there to play the accompaniment and keep the beat. I never once looked at them during the whole performance. The lead singer didn’t have the greatest voice but she made up for that with great facial expressions and characterisation while she performed. Miss Occupier had a retro 80s sound with influences of Blondie and a definite resemblance to the Long Blondes.
Then came the headlining band – Performance! This is why I bought the ticket. They’re an electro pop band from Manchester. I thought it would set me up for a night out on the town and get my feet moving but it was the complete opposite. They took themselves so seriously and didn’t appreciate the lack of response from the audience. I was expecting influences of Calvin Harris but heard sounds of Eurasia. At one point the lyrics got very dark and, after that song, there was no redeeming themselves, in my opinion.
This was not a night where I uncovered any hidden gems, but that is the beauty of live music: you win some, you lose some.
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