8/5/2006 Vamps 'N' Gypsies, King Lizard, Jack Viper & Vains Of Jenna @ G-Lounge

Subject	Vamps 'N' Gypsies, King Lizard, Jack Viper & Vains Of Jenna @ G-Lounge
PostedDate	5/8/2006 9:36:00 PM
Body	Feeling a bit shite I arrived late and missed Neon Diamond for the second time recently. Vains Of Jenna were in full flight and playing to quite a full venue. The crowd seemed to be well into it, but to me they seemed much the same as a hundred other bands currently on the thriving underground London glam/sleaze scene. To be fair, they were good enough at what they do - but so are most the other bands doing the same thing. They do deserve respect for having enough faith in what they are doing to up sticks and leave their native Sweden for London when they had nowhere to stay and no gigs booked though. Apparently, after staying in London for a month or so they are off to California soon - a better setting for their type of music, but they'll find instead of being in competition with a hundred identical bands in London they'll have to compete with a thousand bands. Good luck boys! Vamps 'N' Gypsies were on next and struck more of a chord with me with their more basic AC/DC and G'N'R approach relying more on music and songs than image. Singer Nikki is easy on the eye as well as the ear, and there is no shortage of showmanship from the rest of the band - good entertainment on all levels - something which this band seem to manage while obviously having fun themselves at the same time and not disappearing up their own egos like many of the bands on this scene do. Next up were Jack Viper, a band who obviously can play very well (and don't they know it) but lack anything to make them stand out from all the other bands doing the same thing. The guitarist plays a cool Parker guitar, but that is the main thing about them that stands out - that and the singer who tries far too hard to be a 'bad-ass American'. If you're not American, please don't try to be - you just come across as fake. Last band of the night were King Lizard - also good at what they do, but it's pretty much just more of the same - with yet another singer (but with different hair from the ones earlier) trying to be Axl but sounding just like all the earlier (male) singers tonight. Decent players, but same act, same moves, same shapes, same generic sound as the other bands, but for some reason a very muddy sound mix compared to the earlier acts. Like two others out of the four bands I saw tonight, they take themselves far too seriously.  As I'd been feeling since Saturday night like whoever may have poisoned the Spurs team had tried it out on me first (hence the 'emergency' visit to the toilet during Vamps 'N' Gypsies set) I decided I'd had enough and headed for home before the last band finished their set.

PS: G-Lounge became Bar Monta and was pretty cool for a while, then it turned into Camden Rock - a dodgy shithole with a bad reputation for drugs and violence. Best avoided at all costs.