13/4/2008 Honeykill (acoustic), Eights 'N' Aces & Johnny Panic in Camden

Subject	Honeykill (acoustic), Eights ’n’ Aces & Johnny Panic
PostedDate	4/13/2008 9:27:00 AM
	Another multi-gig Sunday in Camden, although it didn't turn out quite as 'multi' as planned... My first port of call was Tommy Flynn's where Rockworkzwere supposed to be playing after a break last week. I arrived to find a band's equipment set up on the stage, but no sign of any band.  There was football on the big screen, which wasn't a good sign.  I assumed either the band were having a break between sets, or they wouldn't be starting until the football had finished. As there were no familiar faces in the pub I walked up the road to the World's End where I knew I would find a few familiar faces - I ended up finding more than I expected.  As usual of a Sunday there were several bands playing for free, although I didn't know who was on apart from Honeykill - the actual band I was there to see. Honeykill's stage time had changed over the last few days from 5.30 to 6.20.  Through no fault of the band, things started to slide further... By 6.00 the first band hadn't even started - eventually getting going around the time Honeykill were supposed to be playing. They looked familiar - I realised I had seen them round the corner at Bar Monsta a few months ago without knowing who they were. They were (and still are) Eights 'n' Aces, and I thought they were rather good. I thought they were OK last time (the frontman tells me later that it was their first ever gig) but they seem noticably better this time. Imagine Queens Of The Stone Age fronted by John Lennon and you're probably in the same ballpark. To further emphasise the Beatles infleunce they threw in a rather good cover of 'Hey Bulldog' - it was refreshing to hear someone playing a different Beatles tune than the usual standards. Honeykill were supposed to be on next, but the promoters had switched things round for some reason. Instead we got some dreadful rock/funk style act. I decided to go walk back to Tommy Flynn's to see if anything was happening there - it wasn't, and it didn't look likely to so I headed back to the World's End.  Unfortunately, the same band were still playing when I got back - they seemed to go on forever....  Thanks to the promoters Honeykill eventually got going over two hours later than expected. This wasn't a standard Honeykill show - it was their first ever acoustic set. Alfie the drummer was ill and couldn't make it, while keyboard player Paivi was also absent. However, since Alex joined the band recently there is now an extra guitar to fill the sound out as well as adding an extra vocalist. This was actually nearer to a proper acoustic show than most I have seen recently, with Tish's bass being the only proper electric instrument used. Ironically, in spite of the tradition of musicians being seated on stools for 'acoustic' gigs - Tish with her electric bass was the only one sat down while Jimi and Alex stood and thrashed away at their acoustic guitars! In spite of the limitations of the equipment and venue, the slimmed down version of the band looked like they were having fun. The audience looked like they were enjoying it too.  In spite of the holdups it was worth the trip to Camden to see a couple of good bands for free.  Then it was off round the corner and up the road to the Barfly to see Johnny Panic. After all the delays at the World's End I only just made it in time - I arrived just as the band were about to start their first song. The venue was fairly full, but not as packed as the previous occasion I had seen them at the Barfly - there certainly wasn't quite the same air of excitement this time although the band played well. I reckon Rob Solly is one of the best frontmen around at the moment, but even he doesn't seem quite as fired up and passionate in his performance as usual - the 100 Club show I saw them give to only a few people as a support band last year was much better than this. They have a load of great songs, but for some reason this show didn't seem up to their usual standard. Maybe it was Rob and Matt's shirts? - the band seemed to lack their normal strong identity this time and looked more like just another indie band, although musically they are much better than that. It was still a better performance than most indie bands could manage, but I have seen Johnny Panic play so much better shows than this - there just seemed to be something missing tonight.  Johnny Panic are a really good band both on CD and live, but on this occasion something just didn't seem quite right. I guess most bands have 'off' nights - I guess this was just one of them and Johnny Panic will be back on form next time I see them.