30/4/2006 Dead Monroe in Hertford

Subject	Dead Monroe in Hertford
PostedDate	4/30/2006 3:35:00 PM
	I make my second visit to the Hertford Marquee in a week - this time to see Dead Monroe. The event is a charity show in aid of Cancer Research UK and there are six bands playing. First band on are The Hurt. They are from Essex - a country which seems to have produced a lot of good bands over the past few years. The Hurt are no exception and prove to be rather fine. They remind me a bit of 3 Colours Red in sound, and from some angles their bass player even looks a bit like Chris McCormack - but not as much as he looks like Rimmer from Red Dwarf as he prowls the stage pulling serious 'muso' faces, thowing shapes and staring out people in the crowd. I find this all highly entertaining all though I'm sure I'm not supposed to! The guy is also a pretty good bass player though. Next up are another Essex band - Dead Monroe. They suffer from sound mix problems today - something that doesn't happen often in this venue as the sound is usually very good. Then again, there are six bands playing today and none of them have had a soundcheck so things aren't likely to run smoothly. In spite of this, and also some tuning problems Dead Monroe manage to turn in a good performance as usual. Some new songs are given an airing and show a slight change in direction for the band as they explore a more 1970's pop/rock vibe than their earlier more punk edged sound. A token cover is thrown into their set with a fast version of the T.Rex song 'Children Of The Revolution', but I am disappointed they don't play their 'hit' single 'Beep Beep'. It's good to see this band are getting out and about a bit again with some more upcoming gigs booked. The 'Essex Invasion' continues with the next band Houston 500. They are also very good - I love it when I go to a gig to see one band and discover other new bands I like too - this happens quite a lot. And still I hear people moaning there is no good new music any more! There are loads of really great bands out there if people will only get off their lazy arses and go and look for them. Houston 500 are a high powered rock 'n' roll band, with a 'rock star' looking guitarist who looks like he should be playing in Young Heart Attack as he squeezes notes out of his Les Paul. The other guitarist looks more suave like Steve Maloney of Johnny Zhivago (another great Essex band) and now Vicious Cabaret. The bass player looks more like he'd be at home in The Hives, while the slightly manic looking singer has good stage presence and a good line in banter. Certainly another band worth seeing again. Next band are Subdivine. Good musicians but a little too 'emo' to hold my attention - especially when one of the guitarists starts playing a keyboard - immediately giving them a dated sound - then the acoustic guitar comes out as well and I start to wish I'd gone out for something to eat before the next band. The next band are Perfect Distortion - a rather contradictary name, but I guess that's the idea? They are a bit more lively than the previous act. They seem to have more character with their slightly Goth looking girl on bass, hefty punk/biker looking singer, and self indulgent widdly metal guitarist who surely wishes he was playing in System Of A Down. I guess they are a local band as they seem to have the biggest crowd on the day watching them. Unfortunately, they simply don't sound like a very good band for much of their set, although they sound decent enough at times. Last act of the day/night are The Trash - a Clash tribute act. This turns out to be one of the most enjoyable bands of the day as far as I'm concerned. Every song they play is a corker - and they play them with real spirit and punk attitude, but very well! I find it rather ironic that a tribute act finish up the day with the most fiery and impassioned performance of the event - these guys really play it like they mean it. The drummer is very dynamic and energetic, the bass player looks well moody with his cigarette superglued to his lip as he spits backing vocals into the mic, and the lead guitarist looks like he'd slit your throat as soon as look at you - in fact the lot of them look like gangsters. 'Mick Jones' takes lead vocals for a powerful version of 'Rock The Casbah' and 'Joe Stummer' belts the rest of the set out like his life depends on it! This band turn in the most powerful and agressive performance of the day - they also get far more people dancing than any other band at this event. That's no mean feat as they are probably playing to the smallest crowd as it's late and many people have gone home. I was hoping the band would play 'Brand New Cadillac' and 'White Riot' but as things were running late they cut their set short and finished the show early. A pretty good day out, and all in a good cause too.