Post by Admin on Jul 19, 2011 10:16:33 GMT -5
Headcase, Tauntra
By Alex Macarte
The Brickyard, Carlisle. Saturday 6th December 2003
After a crazy stressful week I was looking forward to finally taking it easy with my first Saturday night off in a long time! What better was then to go to my favourite local venue and catch a dose of some great live music. Besides, one of my most loved local bands My Last Act of Bravado were on the bill and due my night shifts I’d missed them pretty much every time they played this year. So I finished my day shift and headed off with a few mates.
Unfortunately on arrival we discovered My Last Act of Bravado had pulled out. Fucking cunts. Something about stupid haircuts or something. Ahh well we still had locals Tauntra and German headliners Headcase to look forward to.
Now ska types Tauntra. I’d only seen these properly once before back when we played with them in the summer at a tiny Annan venue. To be honest I wasn’t overly impressed. I’ve seen a lot of ska in my time and only ever caught maybe 4 or so that were actually any good. And Tauntra were not one of those. But what happened was quite unexpected.
Tauntra have obviously working over time. The opening song was complete slap in my face! I don’t know if it was down to a better venue or they had been deep in practice (hoping it was the latter) but it was fucking big, real fucking big. These guys have really turned them selves around. Its still ska, but not as we know it. Enough rock, punk and indie, influence to separate them from others, only just hanging on to the ska tag, and with bleeding fingernails! Obvious ska influences would notably be Sublime and RX Bandits, a relief to the average ska nowadays being influenced by shite like Less Than Jake. But the less obvious influences which seemed to give them the extra boost sounded to me like a mixture of Idlewild, El grand orgo era At the Drive-in, and Greenday twisting and changing enough to avoid being really pegged.
It also seems that as of late Cumbrian bands are loosing previous inhibitions and really showing some good stage presence which always makes me happy and really adds to the experience. There set seemed to have a lot and it was all there. Highlights being furious opener, its nights like these that ruin your life and the more sublime glass bottles and plastic smiles.
Ska, its not big and its not clever, but in Tauntra’s case, yes , it is.
Headliners Headcase, were a different story however. Hailing from Germany they were billed as having previously supported Blink 182. And without trying to sound like a prejudice dick judging a book on its cover, I had a feeling I knew were this was going. And I was right. I was hoping they’d prove me wrong but I was only left disappointed. Now don’t get me wrong, not ALL pop punk is bad, but unfortunately a WHOLE lot of it is. Just because Blink 182 were once quite refreshing and new, doesn’t mean that playing exactly like them makes you any good.
You could tell these guys were trying, obviously having good, pop punk influences like Alkaline Trio and Gob but it just wasn’t used to its full advantage, like say Douglas have, and left them sounding a little bland and very predictable in my opinion. Saying that though there hearts were definitely in the right place, and the latter part of the set had some pretty good stuff there. They’re stage presence was ok, but why that guy had to wear a jacket for the most part was just beyond me!
I’m sorry but I really don’t have that much more to write about these guys. If you want a lesser version of Gob, then these guys are just up your street, but if you feel like you’ve probably heard it all before, well chances are they will make no difference.
By Alex Macarte
The Brickyard, Carlisle. Saturday 6th December 2003
After a crazy stressful week I was looking forward to finally taking it easy with my first Saturday night off in a long time! What better was then to go to my favourite local venue and catch a dose of some great live music. Besides, one of my most loved local bands My Last Act of Bravado were on the bill and due my night shifts I’d missed them pretty much every time they played this year. So I finished my day shift and headed off with a few mates.
Unfortunately on arrival we discovered My Last Act of Bravado had pulled out. Fucking cunts. Something about stupid haircuts or something. Ahh well we still had locals Tauntra and German headliners Headcase to look forward to.
Now ska types Tauntra. I’d only seen these properly once before back when we played with them in the summer at a tiny Annan venue. To be honest I wasn’t overly impressed. I’ve seen a lot of ska in my time and only ever caught maybe 4 or so that were actually any good. And Tauntra were not one of those. But what happened was quite unexpected.
Tauntra have obviously working over time. The opening song was complete slap in my face! I don’t know if it was down to a better venue or they had been deep in practice (hoping it was the latter) but it was fucking big, real fucking big. These guys have really turned them selves around. Its still ska, but not as we know it. Enough rock, punk and indie, influence to separate them from others, only just hanging on to the ska tag, and with bleeding fingernails! Obvious ska influences would notably be Sublime and RX Bandits, a relief to the average ska nowadays being influenced by shite like Less Than Jake. But the less obvious influences which seemed to give them the extra boost sounded to me like a mixture of Idlewild, El grand orgo era At the Drive-in, and Greenday twisting and changing enough to avoid being really pegged.
It also seems that as of late Cumbrian bands are loosing previous inhibitions and really showing some good stage presence which always makes me happy and really adds to the experience. There set seemed to have a lot and it was all there. Highlights being furious opener, its nights like these that ruin your life and the more sublime glass bottles and plastic smiles.
Ska, its not big and its not clever, but in Tauntra’s case, yes , it is.
Headliners Headcase, were a different story however. Hailing from Germany they were billed as having previously supported Blink 182. And without trying to sound like a prejudice dick judging a book on its cover, I had a feeling I knew were this was going. And I was right. I was hoping they’d prove me wrong but I was only left disappointed. Now don’t get me wrong, not ALL pop punk is bad, but unfortunately a WHOLE lot of it is. Just because Blink 182 were once quite refreshing and new, doesn’t mean that playing exactly like them makes you any good.
You could tell these guys were trying, obviously having good, pop punk influences like Alkaline Trio and Gob but it just wasn’t used to its full advantage, like say Douglas have, and left them sounding a little bland and very predictable in my opinion. Saying that though there hearts were definitely in the right place, and the latter part of the set had some pretty good stuff there. They’re stage presence was ok, but why that guy had to wear a jacket for the most part was just beyond me!
I’m sorry but I really don’t have that much more to write about these guys. If you want a lesser version of Gob, then these guys are just up your street, but if you feel like you’ve probably heard it all before, well chances are they will make no difference.