Live and Under the Influence By Cilla

Take a young man with a passion for real, original, live music with enough ideas to make Richard Branson's head explode and you end up with a series of amazingly successful events, reported in the press and on the Internet and a guy with an event that almost nobody has ever heard of! I went to see Miss Black America play at an Under the Influence gig at the Adelphi back in December (see the review), a fantastic night. I'd been Under the Impression that the event had been organised by the Hull Daily Mail and/or the Adelphi but NO, it was an Under the Influence affair.

Dean Shakespeare, 25, the mind behind Under the Influence is a busy man. He knows that this is what he wants to do. He's totally sure about that. A couple of years ago he had a difficult decision to make; give up a place on a course at Leeds university he'd waited a long time to do or give up Under the Influence. The rest, as they say, is history in the making. He's getting somewhere. I met up with him at the Adelphi on Saturday 31st January - his first Saturday night gig at this venue - now to become a monthly event (the last Saturday in every month).

He already holds a monthly 'social gathering' on the 2nd Wednesday of each month. So, tonight we sat and chatted while the bands set up, warmed up and sound tested. On the line-up were The Saved, still life and We Start Fires.

Under the Influence is not a money-making venture. And it's fine with Dean that way for now. He wants to bring music to the people and people to the music. Tonight it was £3.50/£3.00 on the door. Dean did admit, with a smile, that all he wants is to be able to hear all this fantastic music and fulfil his passion for free. He wants to showcase more than just local bands. His formula, one local band, and two other out-of -town bands is a winning one. The Adelphi was heaving ...

Dean's a pretty modest person who'd far rather give credit to the bands, who, as he point out, are the ones who do the entertaining. I reckon he deserves some credit, too.

Plans are underway to take Under the Influence to Newcastle on a monthly basis, beginning April this year. Dean plans to take a couple of bands plus a coach-load of audience from Hull ... watch this space for more details .... Some nights are not as well attended but Dean feels this may be down to lack of publicity. All promotion of each event is done by Dean himself and some of his good mates - they spend a lot of time posting flyers through doors.

Recently Under the Influence was listed in the NME - Dean feels at last he's making a mark - a name for his night, some recognition. I'm glad for him. He works hard. So, what about the Under the Influence debut Saturday night at the Adelphi? As I mentioned before, it was full to the brim in the unique Adelphi venue. That stayed more or less the same all night. It's got to be said, the crowd was fantastic. Really enthusiastic. Great atmousphere in anyones book. Here's a brief run down on what I thought of the bands

The Saved A band with a lot to say - songs with titles like User and Twisting the Knife. Seemed a bit angry with a lot of stuff - and using their lyrics to voice it. They were joined half way through by a guest tambourine man ..... er .... maybe it's not as easy as it looks ...

Feeling unsure what to really think, they won me over in the end - the last song did it. Some gorgeous sounds from the guitar which, when on the verge of becoming self indulgent suddenly became their best musical epic - their Stairway to Heaven. Wish I could remember what it was called. continued below

Live and Under the Influence continued By Cilla

We Start Fires Billed as Ball crunching guitars with tingly piano riffs. These female pop punkers kick arse (NME). I was delighted to see some females at last (yes, I know you're out there). A girl band? No, not quite. The drummer is a bloke!

The line-up looks terrific, wish I'd taken the camera. Ruby Slippers (the slow one) showed that they weren't just any girl band. They're good to watch and seemed to have plenty of fans in the audience. Nice to see some ladies sticking out their talented musical butts for a change! Queen Bee - I swear the girl on the keyboards had 6 fingers on each hand. Next Exit - Fast and furious and made me feel like I knew it already. Influences? I'm not much good at this but if I had to say, I could maybe hear some Jam in there, but much more raw, with that hollow wowow synthesiser.

still life I can't write about this band without first admitting to be completely biased. Read my reiews. These guys go from strength to strength. I think this was most definitely still life at their best. I think they responded to the big, friendly crowd. They looked relaxed, played like they were really enjoying themselves and treated us to a new number in their repertoire.

It was a treat to see them play to a real audience which was maybe expecting this kind of quality from Dean and Under the Influence - and which seemed to appreciate still life at last. Since the gig I've been in touch with the 3 bands and asked them for a comment about Under the Influence from their point of view. Here's what they said:

Liam (the Saved) .... Saturday was the fourth Under the Influence that we've done and generally they've been very good .... Dean does deserve recognition and support in his venture and does do a good job. Jim (Adelphi soundman) needs a bit of recognition. We had a top nite on Saturday and would just like to apologise for the acoustic cutting out during Twisting the Knife, thought it was the best bit of the song tho'. Becky (We Start Fires) .... We had a great time in Hull - class sound, class audience and free beer which is always a bonus. Dean's doing a great job - it's not often we meet such cool, enthusiastic promoters.

We can't wait to come back down - God bless Hull we say! Mike (still life) .... Yes, great gig. Most fun we've had in ages! Really enjoyed both the other bands too. We've played with the Saved before (they lent us a bass when James broke a string) and it was great to see them again, they have a real way with a riff .... I really enjoy the Under the Influence gigs cos Dean always does a cracking job at promoting them, and there's always a varied and eclectic line up. Next Under The Influence Gig - The Adelphi - Wednesday 11th February 04

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