6/4/2007 The Cut Outs, Copious & Viva Las Vegas @ Clockwork

Subject	The Cut Outs, Copious & Viva Las Vegas @ Clockwork
PostedDate	4/6/2007
	Quite a varied night at Clockwork... Retro Crooks were meant to be playing but didn't turn up. First band to actually appear were The Otters. I rather wish they hadn't bothered either. Three young indie looking kids got on stage for guitar/bass/drums duties. Then some old hippy looking bloke appeared at the side of the stage and introduced the band - at first I though it was the PA guy MC'ing or something. The band start playing some fairly up tempo rocking stuff, but don't sound very tight - the sound was pretty bad as well which didn't help them.  Then the old hippy guy grabs the mic and starts screaming and shouting like he's in the band - which I have to assume he actually was as he carried on, very odd though it appeared.  I didn't enjoy the resulting racket in the slightest and after a while decided I'd suffered enough and went back downstairs to get another extremely overpriced pint of yellow liquid. The evening hadn't got off to a good start - a choice of overpriced lager or overpriced lager at £3.80 a pint hadn't put me in the best of moods to start with...  Fortunately, things got better. A lot better - although the beverage situation didn't improve. Next band were the Cut Outs. I'd never heard of them before, but was very pleasantly surprised.  Three not unattractive girls took to the stage and let rip with a set of fired up punky rock 'n' roll. They had great songs and they sounded as good as they looked - I was well impressed and will certainly be going to see them again.  Next up were Copious. I'd seen this band once or twice before on the same bill as other bands I already knew and liked. Although they aren't the type of band I'd normally go and see I was impressed by their performance and the quality of some of their songs. I guess the most obvious band to compare them with would be Oasis, who I imagine must be a major influence. Copious rock harder though, and I would say their overall standard as musicians is higher. They manage to create a good atmosphere and I imagine it is similar to what it must have been like at early Oasis gigs. Their fans appear to be 'Sun reader' football crowd types in the main, and one of them wearing a 'My other ride is your girlfriend' T-shirt provides some comic relief when after having too much to drink he climbs onto the stage - with what intent I don't know - I suspect he didn't either!  He was gently assisted from the stage by the band's fans and looked a bit sheepish afterwards. I'm sure he meant no harm, and it was an amusing interlude - a change from the annoying 'look at me!' type stage invaders you see at other gigs. Copious seemed on good form and have definitely improved since I last saw them. There was something rather strange on next: 'Lorna Bliss as Britney Spears'. How this act got onto the bill I have no idea as it seemed very out of place and left most the punters looking rather baffled!  A Britney lookalike takes to the stage with two male dancers. She sings and dances her way though what at first seems like a straightforward 'tribute' routine. Then it becomes apparent that she is actually acting out Ms Spears career to date. She starts off with long blonde hair and skimpy attire as the pop queen, then charts the singer going off the rails as she acts out prima-donna rants, and then then she loses the plot (and her hair) completely. I guess it's not a bad act actually, but it seems totally out of place in this venue tonight and leaves most people present with WTF??!! looks on their faces.  Thankfully, it's back to rock 'n' roll to end the night - and you can't get much more rock 'n' roll than a set of Elvis songs!  These are solidly performed by Viva Las Vegas in a punk 'n' roll style. This all works pretty well as most people like a bit of rock 'n' roll, and even though hardly anyone present has heard of the band before - they already know all the songs. Unfortunately, I have to leave halfway though the set to catch the last tube.  Still, it was an interesting and varied night at Clockwork even if I didn't enjoyall the acts - or the bar prices.