29/7/2006 Junkster & Kitty Hudson @ the 12 Bar Club

Subject	Junkster & Kitty Hudson @ the 12 Bar Club
PostedDate	7/29/2006
	There were five other bands on the bill as well - these London Callin' nights at the 12 Bar Club are great value for money!  First on were 84mm - the band were all around thirteen years old, but you'd never have guessed that from listening to them! They were amazingly good for their age and the quality of their pop/punk songs and musicianship put many bands ten or twenty years older than them to shame. They had loads of energy and also managed to play really tightly - something not that many bands can manage as well as these kids. This is certainly a band to watch. Next up were Junkster with their Wildhearts and Therapy? inspired rock from the north of England. They were good when I saw their only previous London show at the Hope & Anchor earlier this year, but this time they were even better. Loads of energy, catchy songs, great riffs, plenty of stage presence. It wasreally hot in this cramped and sweaty little venue - I don't know how the band managed to deliver such a cracking performance under these conditions. It was the last night of a short tour for them and they really ended on a high note.  I'd never heard of the following act - a female fronted four piece from the USA called Fire And Reason. I couldn't take my eyes off the singer, but I wasn't as keen on listening to her. She didn't sound quite in tune at times on the first few songs, although she seemed better later on. To be fair, you never know how good the on-stage monitor mix is at tiny venues like this so it might not have been her fault. The rest of the band were excellent musicians, but their material didn't exactly set the world on fire. Dragster were on next. I think I saw them supporting someone at the Borderline several years ago, but they didn't make a huge impression on me then. They don't make a great impession on me tonight either, although they throw themselves into their performance. Another band fronted by a girl singer, but with more of a raw punk 'n' roll edge than the previous band. I'd never seen Devilish Presley before, but had read good things about them and was looking forward to checking them out. Unusually for an act on the underground rock 'n' roll circuit, this was a duo - a guy on guitar and a girl on bass, the rest being pre-recorded on DAT or computer I imagine. It wasn't quite my thing, but this was certainly the most energetic and entertaining performance I have seen from a duo - something I normally avoid like the plague. In spite of not being a full live band, they still managed to be pretty rock 'n' roll and certainly had a unique spirit to them. After midnight we had a couple of late 'Special guest' additions to the bill. The Frantic are from New York and provided a twenty minute set of high powered rock 'n' roll with a punk edge. Immediately following them and using the same equipment were south London's Kitty Hudson - also with a New York influence in their Johnny Thunders tinged sound. Their set was short but sweet - probably the most high powered and energetic show I've seen them give.  Great stuff!