29/08/2005 JOANovARC @ The Purple Turtle

Subject	JOANovARC in Camden
DateCreated	8/30/2005 6:36:00 PM
PostedDate	8/29/2005 1:41:00 AM
	Went to see the highly rocking JOANovARC at MMMFest in Camden. According to the flyer the band were supposed to be playing at the Oh Bar, but the organisers decided to change it to the Purple Turtle instead at the last minute! I wasn't the only one to go to the wrong place.  I eventually arrived at the correct venue to find not very many people there - I wonder how many went to the wrong place and gave up? To be fair, you are never going to get a high attendance atany rock event that takes place on the same Bank Holiday weekend as the Reading festival. I was informed that all the bands who had already played at the fest that day were metal bands, and mostly not very good. I soon got the picture - you can tell exactly what most of these bands are going to sound like before they even play a note. As soon as you see them getting on stage in their baggy shorts and baseball caps you already know they will have 'singer' who is only able to 'express' himself by unintelligable grunting and screaming 'WOAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!' If these people actually had anything worthwhile to say, then they would surely express it in a manner that people could actually understand. Fortunately, JOANovARC were there to break the monotonous stream of nu-metal-by-numbers bands. Unfortunately, they were hindered by being given a sound mix with the vocals way too low. I guess this was because that suited the other bands on the bill - the lower in the mix the better... It was a shame as Sam's vocals are very strong and clear normally and deserve to be heard properly. Notwithstanding this, the girls gave their usual spirited performance and got a great reception from the crowd - which swelled noticably during the band's performance. There were more technical problems when Shelley's guitar amp blew up mid-set, but another amp was soon rigged up and the girls continued with a storming set. They dropped in one cover - an amazing version on 'Purple Haze' - the best I've ever heard any band play! This band have so many good songs of their own they don't need to play any covers really. To hammer home that point they finished with a very powerful and energetic 'Live Rock 'n' Roll - a song which emphasise's Debbie's aggressive drumming. The following band went back to the pattern on the earlier acts on the bill and were nowhere near the same class as JOANovARC, so we voted with our feet and headed for the pub over the road for some more beers in more peaceful surroundings that allowed better for conversation.