Wednesday 9th August 06 - Prologue to Leeds: The Unsigned Bands Showcase at The Welly (3/4) By Joe Hakim Photos By Mo

(1/4), (2/4), (3/4), (4/4).

Photograph Gallery   The Landaus Gallery,   Ernest Gallery,   The Dirty Dreamers Gallery,   The Bonnitts Gallery,   Scaramanga Six Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Mr. Beasley Gallery,   People Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Gallery 3,   Gallery 4,   Gallery 5.

Lead singer, Mike Wright is quite simply one of the best vocalists out there, with a range and style that conjures up memories of early Smiths material. They top off their set with Soldier, a track which has come to define my year in much the same way as something like Monster by The Automatic, or The YeahYeahYeah Song by The Flaming Lips. They finish off with a new track which shows that these guys are just as capable of penning sharp, tight Bloc Party-esque tunes. These guys are going to be huge, mark my words.

Scaramanga Six are a band so different that the crowd steps back a bit when they take to the stage. They have an Applause light which they activate between songs and a keyboard player/percussionist called Christopher Catalyst who just stands and stares out into space in between his sections. They combine a sense of theatrics with a determination to rescue the rock opera from cheesy obscurity. They sound a bit like the Queens of the Stone Age jamming with ... er, Queen. I don't mind saying that these guys are a work of fuckin' genius. They have a single called Baggage which comes complete with the couplet: Baggage/I'm a total cabbage. How good is that?

They weave in such diverse elements as The Who, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden and even Meatloaf without as much as a twitch. Sunken Eyes, a truly grandiose song that seems to be about domestic abuse, is the highlight of an eclectic set that unfortunately seems to go over the heads of the vast majority of the crowd. I, however, get it, and in the unlikely event that one of them is reading this review, I would greatly appreciate a CD. Send it to thisisull.com and I'll even review it. I'm planning on a chewing a handful of 'shrooms to get into a good mind-set and then checking these guys out at Leeds - that's how fuckin' good they are.

Last, but by no means least, are the wonderful Mr. Beasley. Despite their use of technology, it's the simplest thing that threatens to scupper their set: the lead singer's mike gives out almost straight away. To keep things going the bass player does some ad-hoc beat-box to keep us entertained. It's up to Alan Raw to save the day. He hands over his own wireless mike, which probably costs as much as a small car, and the set begins again.

They bring a trip-hop sensibility with them, combining jazz trumpet with huge techno beats and hoover synths.

Continued .... Next Page (4/4)

Photographs courtesy and Copyright ©  Mo 2006

Photograph Gallery   The Landaus Gallery,   Ernest Gallery,   The Dirty Dreamers Gallery,   The Bonnitts Gallery,   Scaramanga Six Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Mr. Beasley Gallery,   People Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Gallery 3,   Gallery 4,   Gallery 5.

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