Give It A Name: Incoming (Live Review: Dan)

This is the second year running that I have attended Give It A Name. This year however, the festival has moved to a substantially smaller venue (Earls Court to Brixton Academy) and has a lower standard in bands. This wasn't too much of a problem for me though, as the top two acts on the bill are my two favourite live bands.
Going to this year's event was a very spontaneous decision - I purchased a ticket for Matt and myself on the morning of the festival. So we headed up to Brixton Academy to enjoy an evening of music. This was not what we received. The first band, In This Moment, were an unusual metal band. All of the members looked how you would expect from your average, small-time metal band; One big man with dreadlocks and all the others with their black tank tops or jackets. Until the singer walked onstage. She was dressed in a hideous yellow dress and looked like she had walked straight off of the set of Alice in Wonderland. Still, she had certainly caught my attention. Then she started making a noise. Possibly the most disgusting noise I've ever heard live before, her screamed vocals sounded like more a shriek or a wail and I was starting to wonder what I had gotten myself into. Still, eventually it was all over and I could finally relax again. I'm not convinced anyone in the building enjoyed them.

Next up was Lights, and having done some research I am now aware that Valerie Poxleitner is the only member and the other people onstage were just touring members. I can now forgive her for saying "This is my last song". So, moving on. As a vocalist she was quite talented, and ticked all the right boxes for what she was trying to achieve. Well, most of them. The music was quite pleasant too. But what she failed to do was excite. Matt and I were sat upstairs to watch Lights, and I don't regret this. She was very calming though, I could probably listen to her music all day. It just wasn't what I had gone out for. I'd gone out for some exciting, jumpy music but Lights couldn't provide me with that. Still, I'll certainly be giving her album(s) a listen. So well done Valerie.

Then we had Emery to look forward to. And I sort of was. Having listened to one song of theirs when this year's lineup was announced I had placed them in the same group as Post-Hardcore acts such as Chiodos (A personal favourite). They didn't really fail to disappoint in this aspect - they were a post-hardcore band. Thing is, they just sounded like they were trying to copy all the rest. This is why I'm starting to tire of the genre - there's precious little diversity in the genre. All the bands want to sound like each other, which is fair enough because it works well enough and has a fairly sizeable fanbase. It's just a scene that I'm not really as into as I once was. And whilst the music was listenable (there was nothing I wasn't enjoying) I found something to hate on the stage: The man standing at the very front in the above image, known (apparently) as Robot Ross. Robot Ross was just about the worst member of any band I've ever seen. He was dressed in a pink/purple waistcoat and Matt and I had both noticed that after two full songs he hadn't actually played any instrument, or sung. Instead, he insisted on prancing around the stage trying to fuck every instrument. He literally crept across the stage, he moved lightly and tiptoed all over the place. He was an absolute monstrosity on the eye. Still, he did know how to get the crowd going. Albeit a crowd of fourteen year old girls. About a third of the way through their set Emery did some sort of swap. The vocalist at the time swapped roles with the Bass player of the time and Robot Ross started to do something. The new vocalist was a real improvement, however I was disappointed that they announced that the material played in this formation was "old". Robot Ross did a bit of screaming and it worked quite well with the music and the second half of their set was actually quite decent. Especially the last song, which was brilliant. Matt told me that Robot Ross did a somersault into the crowd. I didn't see this, but would have expected it really.

The King Blues. I've never listened to them, but I've read positive things about them and Kerrang always tell people to listen to them. Still, where has that ever gotten anyone? Just look at that picture of them. You knew this little review section was going to be bad already, right? Right.
Whilst the stage was being set up for them we had noticed 4 different miniature instruments being placed on the stage; Drums, Microphone stand, Guitar and...Something that I have now forgotten. We became quite excited about the prospect of a dwarf in the band.
No such luck. Instead, we were treated to six absolutely awful musicians. The singer was some cockney speaking prick who made this strange noise that somewhere between rapping and singing and seemed quite opinionated. The singer said "On 3 I want you all to shout 'Fuck the BNP'!" He didn't give us a reason though... He did this a lot. He told us all that "the government are bastards/wankers/cunts" but never once said why. And above all of this, their music was shit. They played ridiculous Early Learning Centre instruments and were generally a terrible band. Nothing was to be gained from this half an hour.

So. The Academy Is....Ben told me that they were good. Ben lied. The Academy Is... were the gayest band I've ever seen and heard. The singer limped around the stage asif all he was really doing was looking for a massive cock. He failed to notice that all of the men around him could provide with this. Their music was a perfect representation of the image and I was stood right in the middle of an enormous gay outing. I'm not being homophobic in any way, it just wasn't something I wanted to experience that night. It was to my horror, then, when I found myself in the middle of a mosh pit. A mosh pit, of all things, seemed like the least necessary thing possible at this moment in my life. To swiftly conclude: I hated this band.

The Blackout. It was now when my night really started. Time after time after time, The Blackout have never ceased to impress me. They are full of energy and their music is catchy and aggressive when it needs to be. They are a cool group of people and can accept that everyone loves Sean Smith (the gay one with white hair) probably more than they do the band. They have a new album out in May so we were treated to a nice number of new tracks, and I think they all sounded really good. The crowd was also sensational for this band, and proved to be essential in turning my night around. I also noticed that all of the fourteen year olds had disappeared and I managed to share the set with the kind of people who I would have wanted to. They played most of the best songs from their debut album 'We Are The Dynamite!' and even a bit from the EP - Theblackout!theblackout!theblackout!. Which is good. Perhaps one day I'll put some of their stuff in the swap so we can all relish in their fantastic ability. Otherwise we shall wait until May 25 and New Release Sunday can have a bit of The Blackout treatment. It's a damn good treatment. I would advise absolutely anyone to go and see them on their tour in May.

The moment everyone had been waiting for (and what a long wait it was): Enter Shikari. They came onto the stage with their new intro, which is very good, and the crowd was full of energy. I've seen Enter Shikari a fair few times now, and I'm still not really bored yet. I'd still not pass up an opportunity to go and see them. Besides, I hadn't seen them in a venue anywhere near the size of Brixton Academy. It probably wasn't as good as the small, intimate venues such as Camden Underworld though, which I feel they are more suited to. Which is a bit rubbish for them, as 'Enter Shikari: Live at Wembley' is something that should never happen.
This was also the first time they have ever played their new single 'Juggernauts' live. I've been having mixed feelings about this song. It's an entirely different sound for the band, and one that I'm not sure I like. However, it was great fun live and it helped me to decide that I, in fact, do like it.
Their performance wasn't without their usual mistakes (which I'm starting to believe they must be doing on purpose). This time Roughton messed up his synthesiser and deleted the set list off of it. I'm not complaining about this though, and neither are they. Everyone laughs about it, and the set goes on naturally. They pause regularly to chat about the G20 protests and Cheerios and it's all part of the fun. Everyone has a great time, and everyone goes home drenched in their own sweat - the sign of a good night out.

Some summarizing numbers:
In This Moment: 0/5
Lights: 3/5
Emery: 2.5/5
The King Blues: 0/5
The Academy Is...: 1/5
The Blackout: 5/5
Enter Shikari: 5/5
Give It A Name: Incoming 2009: 3/5

Hope you enjoyed the long read.
Dan.