Kane Fulton

It's quarter past six in the afternoon. I'm stood in a take away opposite one of Hulls most popular bars, 'Admiral of the Humber'. I find myself staring at the pictures on the laminated overhead, pondering what Bill Bailey often ponders ("Just who does take photographs of Kebabs?"). Sat behind me are Danny and Gaz from one of tonight's bands The Landaus, and to my left are Jonny and Gibbo from up and coming Hull newbie's Slightly Roasted. Slightly Roasted aren't on the bill tonight, mainly because the person writing this article isn't back from university yet, rendering the band a little dormant for the time being. (There you go, Gibbo, I've finally mentioned Roasted).

A devoured kebab and a few drinks later, we wander into the venue. The 12  quality bands on offer tonight are accessible for a mere three quid, that's 25p per band. With the days proceedings kicking off at noon, that means that we've missed around seven bands. It also means that most people are in a premature state of inebriation. Looking around, I can see a few familiar faces. Marv, Grant and Tom of The Paddington's are scattered about, and Thisisull.com writer Michelle Dee is taking notes in the corner. The atmosphere is relaxed, everyone is chatting, drinking and smiling. With a line up like tonight's, there's no wonder either.

First band on tonight (since we arrived anyway) are The Landaus. Although one of the more experienced and loved bands in Hull, there seems to be a little anxiety in the audience toward the appearance of some of the band members who look a little, shall we say, merry. The band launch into the first song, which although the lads got through with ease, sounded just a little off balance. Us faithful at the front don't worry, every band need a warm up after a few beers. As the first few bars of the second song, 'Benefit Fraud' ring out of the amps, it appears that there are yet a few more glitches in the setup. Singer Loz looks down at the audience with slight concern. Somebody's guitar is slightly out of tune, and Loz' guitar can barely be heard, whereas us at the front are being routinely deafened by the thundering roar of Danny's Marshall. Danny notices and pauses playing for a split second to turn down the volume a bit. Just as the band recompose themselves Gaz's bass cuts out. He takes out the lead, switches the amp off and on again, and plugs back in. Still no sound.

Somebody in the audience notices that the plug on the floor has been knocked out, and runs on stage to put it back in. The bass is resurrected just as Loz drops his plectrum. Another audience member jumps to the aid of the finger-strumming front man. The band, with a slight air of relief about them, get to the end of the song. A member of staff from the venue then runs onto the stage and informs us all that because of the technical hitch, there's going to be a short break to check the electricals. Time for a few more beers.

After a short while the band come back on, looking a little more recomposed and ready to finish the set. Crowd favourite 'Behind The Scenes' sees the band looking more confident and goes without any troubles except for a cock up at the end, which sees a hysteric Steff doing a snare roll that lasts about ten minutes whilst the band decide which chord to finish on, which, unfortunately, for the ears of the audience, is not the right one. It's good that Gaz could see the funny side of it all, as he was laughing his head off throughout most of the second half of the set. The band wrap up and skulk off the stage looking a little defeated. It wasn't their night, but did those of us at the front of the stage care? Did we bollocks. We still linked arms and went absolute apeshit, mistakes or no mistakes.

Next on are Park'n'Ride, and there are clearly some excited faces at the audience. It should be mentioned at this point, that most of the crowd are absolutely monged out of their faces. As the first song kicks off, it begins to feel like a different gig. The wonderful thing about Park'n'ride is how their fans unite as a whole, a miniature army of Park'n'Riders who may be strangers to one another, but will still link arms and skank in syncopation to the pop perfection coming out of the speakers. 'No Way Back' is the song which, literally, got the audience pogoing like there's no tomorrow. The energy in the venue at this point was unbelievable, this was turning out to be a gig that was getting faster and faster.

Breaking point.

When the bassline to 'Smell of Success' kicks in, a fan decides that they can't take the excitement any more, and bounds onto the stage. With his can in the air, arms waving to the audience staring back, how could I resist? Myself, and a few other piss artists flock onto the stage. I can't remember who I had my arm linked around, but jumping up and down on the stage next to singer Jonny, grinning like a lunatic, was the best moment of any gig I've had the pleasure of being at in recent times. We're then told over the speakers that the band are actually having difficulty playing with the sheer amount of people who were now on the stage, and we happily leave to continue bouncing in the audience. 'Dressing Gown' keeps the momentum going, with half of the room chanting in unison, 'Cause when I'm feeling down, I wear my dressing gown, I like to show it off, I like to take it off!'. Set closer 'I am the buttbanger' has the audience chanting like a crowd of football fans. The music gets faster and faster, beer flies, bodies fall on the floor and get picked up again, and one of the best bands in Hull round up a magnificent set.

People are full of the easter spirit, and we're all left wondering after that performance if things can get any better. The answer to that is a simple, blunt, yes. Turismo take to the stage, and the venue by this point is absolutely rammed. I've never been a fan of Turismo, mainly because I'd never really heard anything by them, but as the first song started, I knew this was a band that I had to check out. The brass section was powerful and hard hitting, and looming singer Paul Baggott towered over the audience, commanding us, egging us on. The audience didn't need it. Into the second song, mayhem struck. The bodies in the pit at the front suddenly swerved sideways, and about half of us fell over. You get the picture. It was mental.

Before the gig had started tonight, I was sceptical about even going. The night exceeded any expectations, and the talent of Hull really shone. It was a shame that things never went well for the Landaus. They bore the brunt of the technical difficulties, and it just wasn't their night. I hope that Music Man put on more gigs like this, because I, and everybody that I've spoke to who went, absolutely loved it.

Rockin'.

p.s. The Vels headlined right at the very end, but I was too knackered to watch and went outside for a breather. I've heard they were brilliant, though.

Rating:

Turismo : 9/10

Park&Ride : 9/10

The Landaus : 6/10

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