26/2/2006 JOANovARC & Shush in Soho

Subject	JOANovARC & Shush in Soho
PostedDate	2/26/2006 6:46:00 AM
	I went to Soho Arts Club to see JOANovARC and Shush. It's quite a nice 'intimate' basement venue - Newcastle Brown was reasonabley priced (for a music venue anyway) which is another thing in it's favour.  The first band of the four on the bill were halfway through their set when I arrived - Scarlitti Tilt were a bit pop/indie for my tastes but good at what they did. They had a rather charming blonde girl on keyboards and vocals - she remained seated thoughout their set, which was rather unusual. They had some decent songs and I wouldn't be surprised to hear them turn up on Xfm sooner or later. Next up were Original Sinners - they rocked things up somewhat and were quite a contrast to the previous act. Like the previous band, they were also female fronted, but rather more agressive and in your face - a girl fronting a stoner-rock band. She's got quite a voice on her as well. They was more rock to follow, although with more of a pop tinge in the songs from Shush. It was the first time I'd seen this band, although I already knew  Marina (bass) and Milena (vox/guitar) from their main band AntiProduct It made a change to see Milena step out from behind her usual keyboards to front a band, although she has demonstrated her vocal capabilities very well in AntiProduct as well as playing some guitar at that band's live shows. Marina rocks hard in Shush as well, but not in such a METAL style as she does in her 'day job' band. Shush have some good songs with nice melodies and they succeeded in bringing a smile to my face - I'll certainly be going to see them again when I get the chance.  Things continued to rock when JOANovARC took to the stage and upped the ante. Although the sound wasn't that great in this small venue (I could hardly hear the guitars at all in the previous bands) the girls certainly rose to the challenge and pulled off what I consider to be one of their best performances. This was certainly the hardest rocking band of the night, but with no rough edges - just pure ROCK power! This is a band which has it all - virtuoso musical talent, great songs - and a huge passion for what they do! Their reputation is growing, and I suspect some bands are getting scared of letting JOANovARC support them - they are in a different class to most bands they share a bill with.