Noisy Night III - Chinnery's, Southend, Monday May 21st 2007
Ten Tigers/Anger Is A Gift/Rizzo/Zen Motel
Monday is the new Saturday night...
...So yelled Zen Motel frontman Lee Wray as the Colchester sleaze rockers took a breather from their energetic headline set at Chinnery's on what would otherwise be another dull, rainy night in this seaside town. Tonight, for the third time, Noisy put together a bill of bands that rocked our socks these past few months, aren't in Southend very often and, in our opinion, deserved to be heard by a bigger crowd, whilst raising money for local homeless charity HARP (Homeless Action Resource Project) and also celebrating the 2nd birthday of the fanzine yes, we are 2 years old!
So, after some nail-biting during soundcheck, doors open, friends and well-wishers stream through the door, eager music fans pop their mix cds and tapes into our exchange box and Southend's d.i.y, low-fi indie punks Ten Tigers take to the stage for their first gig proper. Yes, they have generously allowed Noisy to host their stage debut (well, technically their second if you count last month's appearance at the Grand's Open Mic night!) and garner the largest crowd of the evening. There's some unusual sound effects courtesy of a Thunder Box and a Buddah Machine, quite possibly the most epic introduction to a set I've ever seen at Chinnery's, a dance routine and an excellent cover of Daisy Chainsaw's 'Love Your Money'. The effects this performance has had on the Southend public appears akin to some sort of fever that's spreading rapidly and causing people to break into epic speeches about the greatness of this lot, investigate just what makes them tick and compare them to legends such as The Fall and The Slits. You need to see this band and catch the fever too!!
Now, a short spin of Noisy's mix CD of choice and a change in pace when Witham's Anger Is A Gift step up and truly rock out with their particular take on rap metal loud and scary with a lead singer that is just recovering from bronchitis and discards his shoes to perform in his socks seeing these guys live isn't an experience you'll forget in a hurry. Kicking off with quite possibly their strongest track 'New Patriot Black' and dedicating their closing song to us, these guys certainly gained some more fans tonight.
Colchester's Rizzo are up next, further proof that all bands that take their moniker from a character from the movie Grease are indeed, great. The indie four-piece's passionate, brooding alternative rock is mesmerizing comparisons with PJ Harvey, fellow Anglican rockers Diastole and even our own Sam I Am abound, however frontwoman Amy seems to be able to take her rage and spit it out with such passion and vigour coupled with catchy rhythms, ensuring this band won't be unknown for much longer. The band close with forthcoming single 'All For Show' - definitely a must for anyone's record collection and now available from indiestore.com as a download.
By now, sadly the crowd is dwindling but those still here are appreciative of what they've seen, and eager to find out what tonight's headliners, Zen Motel have in store for us. This band also nearly didn't make tonight's gig (and we are very thankful that they did!) after a last minute line-up hitch meant that they only just got a stand in drummer, but, the five-piece are here and as ever, ready to rock, and rock they do!
With a selection of the finest tracks spanning their career, Zen deliver hit after hit in a set that's peppered with jokes, acknowledgement of crowd members (Is that Steve Hooker? A local legend, everyone!) and a round of applause for new drummer that sit between stomping anthems including 'Rocket 69', 'Head', 'Dress Code Violence', '21st Century Bitch' and my personal fave 'So Selfish Too' which sees guitarist Alex step up for lead vocals. Classic set closer 'Devil Song' acts as a perfect finish to this excellent set and great night, but not before Lee reminds us that there's a certain international rock star who has a very similar track on his forthcoming album -surely proof that if this band are good enough to steal songs from, they more than definitely deserved a bigger audience than the small but appreciative lot bopping around tonight!
So, that was Noisy Night III. Unfortunately, this time we didn't manage to break even, this means that technically we didn't make any money for the charity, as whatever money we make above the cost of hiring the venue goes to the charity. As a result Noisy will be absorbing some of the hire cost and donating £100 to HARP.
A huge thanks to everyone that came down, was enthusiastic, took outstanding photos and went to the trouble of making a music compilation for the 'mix cd exchange' it was for you that we put this night on and are super grateful you helped celebrate our 2 year birthday watching some good music for a worthwhile cause.
A massive thanks goes to all the bands who played, at least 3 under 'difficult' circumstances who pulled out all the stops to come down and play and made our night so special, as well as Mike for doing an excellent job on sound as ever.
To everyone else you missed a truly excellent night of local talent. Yeah, it was a Monday, but what a Monday!!! Go make a donation to HARP (details below) or check out the bands you missed online, if you are the least bit interested in what went on:
Further Coverage:
Video Clips
There are no more plans to do another Noisy Night, ever.
All photos on this page and main page are copyright Wolfie. Pic 1: Ten Tigers (CK), Pic 2: Anger Is A Gift (AJ), Pic 3: Rizzo (Amy) and Pic 4: Zen Motel (Si).