18/10/2006 Lauren Harris & JOANovARC in Hertford

Subject	Lauren Harris & JOANovARC in Hertford
PostedDate	10/18/2006
	Another visit to Hertford Marquee - one of my favourite venues, to see one of my favourite bands. The only snag is that as it's out of town I have to drive instead of jumping on the tube, so no beer tonight. Still, the 'yellow peril' gets me to Hertford in nearly the same time it takes me to walk to the pub so it's not all bad. I arrive far earlier than I needed to and find that the support band haven't even started yet. They are a young band called Rough Justice and Kev the promoter tells me they have won a battle of the bands contest. They open their set with a cover of the Misfits 'Attitude' - also covered by Guns 'N' Roses who are an obvious influence on this band. Rough Justice play well enough, but their own material is very generic and no songs really stand out. It's probably the first proper band any of them have been in though and you have to start somewhere. In Hertford this band are probably something new and exciting to the local kids, but I must have seen fifty bands in Camden this year who all look and sound virtually the same as this. JOANovARC are excellent as usual and turn in their normal polished and highly professional performance. They don't have their usual followers at this gig and consequently the atmosphere isn't as good as their recent shows in London and Welwyn Garden City. Although the band always play well, they really feed off the crowd and their reaction, and even though they are well recieved by an appreciative audience tonight this show doesn't have the buzz of their terrific recent gig at the Hope & Anchor in Islington. Headline act tonight is Lauren Harris - daughter of Iron Maiden's bassist. She looks at home and at ease on stage fronting her own 80's style hard rock band, but although she sings well her voice doesn't sound particularly strong. She obviously enjoys what she does, but at this early stage in her musical career she doesn't yet exude a great deal of charisma - that ellusive 'star quality' isn't quite there yet. She certainly does a far better job of fronting a band than some other girls I've seen over the years though. Her band are no spring chickens and although they are excellent musicians they look like 80's throwbacks - I can't help but wonder if she picked the musicians for the band herself, or her dad did? That said, the band sound great and could hold their own against many famous acts. Certainly worth seeing, but I'm not in any great hurry to see them again any time soon.