13/1/2006 Lunacy Booth in Camden

Subject	Lunacy Booth in Camden
DateCreated	1/14/2006 11:42:00 AM
PostedDate	1/13/2006 10:08:00 AM
	Went to the Caernarvon Castle in Camden to see Lunacy Booth. This venue provides great value for money - only £5 to see five bands, and beer at only £2.10 a pint! What other music venue in Camden or the West End sells beer that cheap?  Much to my surprise, one of the first people I met when I walked in was Kev the drummer who I was in a band with many years ago - very strange as I also bumped into him unexpectedly at another gig out in the sticks last night!  I seem to be experiencing some sort of weird drummer deja vu tonight as I was also once in the same band as Lunacy Booth drummer Andi, although not at the same time. Strangely enough, we were nearly in the same band at the same time last year when that band attempted to reform, although it crashed and burned on that occasion... I missed the first band completely - Doctor Fonda were playing when I arrived. I didn't catch enough of their set to get much of an impression of them - they seemed sort of arty/indie/alternative. They scored extra points for handing out free CDs afterwards, but lost a few points for writing a website address on the CD which doesn't actually work!  Basic schoolboy error lads. The CD isn't bad though, and features some impressive guitar work. I didn't catch the name of the following band. They featured a Crispin Gray (Queen Adreena & Daisy Chainsaw) lookalike singer with a cool looking Danelectro guitar. Their impassioned American/alt stylings were spoilt for me by a bass guitar which sounded a bit out of tune.   Lunacy Booth get better every time I see them, both as a tighter band and with better songwriting. The guy on the P.A. at the Caernarvon Castle was really on the ball and gave the band an excellent sound mix. The band sounded good and meaty, with a noticeable Wildhearts influence on certain songs. They are making steady progress from when I first saw them under their old name of Suicidal Smile. Their latest CD 'Prozac Population' is worth getting hold of you get the chance. In yet another bizarre coincidence, unknown to me the final band tonight are also the final band I saw at a gig out in Hertford last night when I went to see In Shadow. I am interested to see how tonight's performance by Copious is compared with their show last night on their home turf in front of all their friends & family. How will they do at a gig miles from home in front of a strange crowd without all their loyal supporters? To be honest I was expecting them to die a death, but they didn't. Although apart from their singer the band are very lacking in stage presence and charisma, they really pulled something out of the bag for this gig. Somehow they seemed to play and sound far better than they did last night - maybe they were nervous playing in front of their home crowd? Maybe they are more confident and relaxed after playing only last night? Whatever the reason, they seem almost a different band tonight. I am not the only one to spot the very big Oasis comparisons - another band not noted for their great stage presence or personalities, but with songs like 'Make The News' they show that they can write memorable and catchy songs and play them well, even if they have yet to learn to actually play to an audience.