24/6/2010 Stereo Juggernaut @ The Unicorn

Subject	Stereo Juggernaut @ The Unicorn
PostedDate	6/24/2010
	A slightly strange night for me, returning to a venue I played quite a few times a few years ago. Now I'm at The Unicorn watching other people on the stage instead, and of course the place has changed name (at least twice) and management (probably a lot more than twice) since then. The area has changed too, with virtually all my old haunts on the Islington/Camden border (The Lion, The Lamb, City of London, the Copenhagen) now shut.  Tonight's gig is a charity show in aid on the Macmillan Cancer Support. I'm here to see Stereo Juggernaut, but there are some other bands on earlier - only one of whom I arrive in time to see. I can't remember the name, but they seem to want to be a 'metal' band and feature two girl singers. Apparently the lead guitarist is Katie Melua's brother - a fact which they do try to milk a bit.  Things start to get a bit 'karaoke' when they play 'Don't Stop Believin' and most of us take refuge outside.  The house PA isn't that great, but Stereo Juggernaut make the best of it and get quite a decent sound. This band seem to have a regular following, and also seem good at winning people over who haven't seen them before - they certainly seem to be doing something right. Their brand of guitar fuelled pop/rock appeals to quite a wide group of people from indie kids to harder rockers - and their keyboard player also wins the 'Haircut of the Month' award by a mile!