26/4/2008 Vamps 'N' Gypsies & Imperial Vipers @ Bar Monsta

Subject	Vamps ’N’ Gypsies & Imperial Vipers @ Bar Monsta
PostedDate	4/26/2008
	A bit of a frustrating night at Bar Monsta for various reasons.  I arrived later than planned and got caught out as the bands started earlier than I expected.  I was looking forward to checking out Montrose Avenue, but unfortunately I completely missed them.  I'm told they were rather good too. I also missed the first couple of songs of Vamps 'N' Gypsies set - which was apparently the best bit. From that point on the band had a particularly unlucky night of technical problems.  First problem was lead guitarist Stu having the input socket pull out of his amp. He changed over to one of the other band's amps - but it packed up shortly afterwards. Then his guitar itself packed up too! Rhythm guitarist Danny lent Stu his guitar and amp to finish the set. Vamps 'N' Gypsies were going to play a longer set as the first band on the bill had to pull out at short notice, but after all the technical troubles they lost momentum and things ground to a halt after about half an hour. Just one of those nights I guess.  Never mind - they are playing at Bar Monsta again on May 19th with another of my favourite bands Zen Motel so hopefully the venue's PA issues will be fixed by then... It's quite some time since I last saw Imperial Vipers. I wasn't expecting much to be honest - all these 'reptile' sleaze bands sound much the same and leave me cold most the time. Imperial Vipers were actually better than I expected tonight, although nothing amazing. They are one of those acts with odd members who look like they are in the wrong band - the singer looks like a refugee from an indie band. And what is it with bass players and dodgy hats this year? They're all at it! The sound mix wasn't great - the bass was a bit loud and I couldn't hear the rhythm guitar at all in spite of a meaty looking Mesa Boogie rig. This band's set was also marred by technical problems - the venue's fault this time. Bar Monsta seems to be largely held together by gaffa tape these days - the mic stands are falling to bits and need to be taped to the floor to remain upright, and the mic cables kept falling off the mics and needed to be gaffa taped on. Mic stands and mic cables can be purchased cheaply enough at any music shop... The singer didn't handle the tec problems at all well and threw a bit of a rock star prima donna hissy fit - hardly endearing himself by calling one of the venue's staff a cunt. To be fair - a band shouldn't have to put up with equipment that is constantly falling to bits around them (and it's not the only night recently I've seen it happening here) but it looks far more professional to just shut up and get on with the show as best you can - then complain afterwards. It was all over by 10.30. The vibe was changing as new people arrived, and the venue seemed to be about to do one of it's infamous changes from 'rock bar' to 'house' or similar. It was far to early to go home on a Saturday night, so I headed off to the Intrepid Fox for some decent beer...

PS: This used to be a pretty cool little venue when it was still called Bar Monsta - it's now a really horrible place called 'Camden Rock'. Avoid.