28/3/2007 Urban Voodoo Machine @ Cuban

Subject	Urban Voodoo Machine @ Cuban
PostedDate	3/28/2007
	I arrived at Cuban to find the place rather busier than my last visit. It consequently took ages to get a drink - particularly as every time I went to the bar most of the few bar staff seemed to vanish.  There was no beer of the brown variety and the Guinness was 'off' so I had a choice of expensive lager or even more expensive lager - it's not a place I'd choose to visit if I just wanted a drink.  The support act was Lil' Lost Lou - a bluesey girl singer songwriter type performing an up-tempo acoustic set while wearing a black leather jacket and a not terribly appropriate (but rather cool) Electric Eel Shock T-shirt. I didn't manage to get any pictures as the lighting was too poor and I spent most of her set trying to get served at the bar.  I was interested to see how Urban Voodoo Machine were going to fit into this venue as the stage is tiny. Simple really - most of the band just aren't on the stage. The sound wasn't terribly good, but to be fair this venue isn't really set up to cope with anything more than acoustic acts, and there are also rather a lot of people in Urban Voodoo Machine. However, the band still managed to put on a very entertaining show of their unique brand of 'Bourbon soaked blues'. One highlight was the violinist going a 'guitar hero' type solo, falling to his knees, going over onto his back - all the while fiddling out the equivalent of a Hendrix style guitar solo on his violin! Unfortunately, the lighting was even more inadequate than the sound system - although there was more lighting than the previous act enjoyed. My cheapo camera 's auto-focus doesn't if the lighting is too poor, so I didn't get any good pictures - although I hope my feeble efforts still give you at least some idea of what it was like. The band's set ended in near punk rock anarchy with the two drummers not only hurling the drums towards the audience, but themselves as well! And then they still carried on playing! Once again, an excellent night's entertainment.