3/5/2007 Vice Squad & Love and a .45 @ the Standard

Subject	Vice Squad & Love and a .45 @ the Standard
PostedDate	5/3/2007
	I arrived at The Standard to find a very generic hardcore band playing - the names of the first couple of bands on this four band bill escape me so it's maybe as well they remain nameless.  This is the second time I've seen Love and a .45 on the same bill as Vice Squad and they have certainly improved since then - not that they were bad before. Unlike the previous band on tonight's bill they actually have some tunes - although the guitar on one of them (Ten Dollar Issue) sounds horribly similar to a band I used to be in years ago who played at this very venue.  Fortunatley, Love and a .45 have a much better looking singer than that band!  This band seem to have quite a few gigs booked so I look forward to them improving further next time I see them. The modern incarnation of Vice Squad can always be relied on to produce a strong performance. A wide selection of punks young and old have turned out to see them - as well as a few slightly bemused looking middle aged people who may have once been punks? The setlist is a mixture of early 80's songs by the original Vice Squad (of which only Beki remains) and newer stuff mainly from their current album 'Defiant'. The band are closer to a metal band these days with Beki's ex-Bombshells bandmate Paul Rooney on guitar looking like a refugee from Pantera.  However, this isn't a bad thing as the standard of musicianship in the current Vice Squad is infinitely better than the original band.

PS: This venue famous venue has now shut.