27/6/2006 JOANovARC in Welwyn Garden City

As I didn't make it to see the girls last week in Kensington I made the effort to catch them in Welwyn Garden City - it's actually much quicker and easier to drive out there than get the tube to West Kensington. There were a couple of local bands playing as well as JOANovARC and the place was pretty full - far more so than I've seen it before.

The first band were playing as I arrived - SlasherMary were a girl band who appear to have a bit of a following. They seemed a very young and inexperienced band, but heading in the right direction. Everyone's got to start somewhere - they were getting up and having a go (and not doing a bad job of it) which is further than a lot of people ever get.

I was worried that as often happens, the first band would play to a good crowd - and then all their mates would bugger off as soon as they finished their set. Fortunately this didn't happen as it so often does at venues like this and JOANovARC got to play to a much bigger crowd than they did last time I saw them here. It looked like most the audience were schoolkids, but they certainly liked their rock music and JOANovARC went down a storm even the the sound left a bit to be desired - it kind of helps if you can hear the guitar with this type of music.  Still, it looks like a load more new fans were won over by the band's performance and they sold more CDs than usual. The girls got asked to sign plenty of stuff afterwards too - including some kid's back! It's all good though - the girls are happy to take time to do this stuff for their new fans - and a few moments taken to sign that kid's back must have made his night! No doubt he will go and tell all his mates all about his great night out too...

I was planning to take a few pictures of the band now I've finally got my new camera working, but the place was so packed I didn't get much chance - then after three pictures my camera decided there wasn't enough power left in the batteries so that was that anyway.  The DJ between bands was good though - lots of classic punk from the Pistols, Clash, and Damned - I bet I was the only person present who recognised the sound of Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers too. 

Last band on where called Livestock and had a more indie flavour to their rock than the previous band, although they certainly rocked harder than most indie bands - and they threw in a Yellow Card cover as well. This band were also young and appeared to have a strong local following. The room remained fairly full and a moshpit started - something I'd never seen in WGC before!

A decent night out, and great value for only £4 on the door.