19/10/2007 Fables Last Stand @ The Fly

Subject	Fables Last Stand @ The Fly
PostedDate	10/18/2007
	First band of the night is Echobeat. They are new to me but turn out to be rather good. They look slightly 'emo' but sound rather better than that and have quite a decent frontman. They have a good solid sound, good dynamics, and play very tightly. Certainly worth seeing. Those road warriors Fables Last Stand are back in London for a showcase gig at The Fly. This is a classier venue than most they have played in the capital, and some of the rock press are in attendance to check the band out. The band get to play to a much fuller room tonight than they usually do in London and they rise to the occasion well. As always, they are very well received by the crowd - few of whom can have known who they were. Regardless of fashion and what the music biz tell the kids is 'cool' there are always loads of people at gigs who really appreciate a band who bring an AC/DC, Stones, G'N'R, Aerosmith vibe to a show   - especially if the band actually have some decent songs - that is why this band always goes down well.  In spite of the rock press mafia, there are still a lotof people out there who just want to hear a good rock band with some great songs and a genuine passion and belief for what they do - not just another band trying to play faster/louder/heavier than their peers, and ending up sounding exactly the same as them for that very reason. As Black Rebel Moped Club sang - 'Whatever happened to my rock 'n' roll?' Well guys - it's still out there if you look for it. This sort of good time classic rock never goes out of fashion with real music fans and gig goers - whatever the music press say is or isn't 'in' this year. What do they know anyway? They don't buy CDs or gig tickets and just go to gigs they can blag into for free 'cos there is a record or promotion company putting up the cash... I tend to take far more notice of how a band are received by an audience who have never seen a band before than what is written in the music press - and Fables Last Stand always do very well winning people over as most the people at gigs have gone just to see one of the other bands on the bill and don't give a shit what is supposedly 'in' this month. The next band on the bill also play the retro 'anti-fashion' card. Bungalow Zen are another band who take their influences mostly (if not entirely) from the 1970's. They are excellent musicians, but the warning bells start ringing for me when the singer straps on an acoustic guitar on only the second song.  He's still wearing it on the third song and my interest is dimishing faster than a jazz guitarist's chords. In fact he keeps playing the acoustic for most of the set - even though it's largely inaudible. If nobody can hear it anyway, why not play an electric - then at least you'll look more rock 'n' roll even if you don't sound it. The lead guitarist is actually very good and has a great sound, although he tends to sound a little self indulgent at times and this doesn't help keep my attention - so I adjourn to the upstairs bar for another bottle of Old Speckled Hen...  I don't recall the name of the last band, but they struck me as being more fit to be the opening act on the bill. They were certainly the least tight players and not many people stayed to watch them.  They weren't particularly bad, but noticably not in the same class as the earlier bands. They had a small but obviously devoted following and reminded me of the sort of original band you might see in a local pub - a big fish in a small pond with all their mates in attendance, but not likely to travel much further afield.

This venue later became 'The Bowery' and has now shut.