31/10/2009 Halloween Part 1: Fables Last Stand @ Hoxton Underbelly

Subject	Halloween Part 1: Fables Last Stand @ Hoxton Underbelly
PostedDate	10/31/2009
	It's Halloween and there is more than one gig I want to get to tonight.  First I'm heading off to the East End. Tonight is a case of a good band from out of town being booked into the wrong venue. The Underbelly in Hoxton isn't a terrible venue or anything - it's just not really suitable for rock 'n' roll or hard rock bands.  Fables Last Stand have made the trip down from their native Newcastle (at considerable expense) to play a London show to a handful of people. Familiar story? It would have been much more worthwhile if only they'd been booked into a more suitable venue like The The Gaff or Purple Turtle with some similar bands who would bring a few fans along who are likely to be into their brand of raunchy rock 'n' roll.  Fables Last Stand put on a good performance as usual. Some of you will have seen this band before as they played in London a few times a couple of years ago, but there have been some changes in their ranks since then and the band now sports a new rhythm section and well as slimming down to a single guitarist. Another thing that has changed since the band last played in London is most of their setlist. A load more songs were written for the band's debut album, but since then most of those have been replaced by even more new songs! When the band's forthcoming album 'Love & Exile' finally appears some time in 2010 I expect it will be pretty good as the band now have a considerable arsenal of songs to pick from. Let's hope it won't be another two years before Fables Last Stand play in London again, and lets also hope that next time they play in a more suitable venue with some decent rock bands instead of the indie/dance lot that tend to play at this venue. I can't hang about for too long afterwards as I have to get from the East End to the West End for the next gig...

PS: The band never did get that album out - a great shame as the first batch of songs recorded sounded terrific. Then, after changes of management and another attempt at recording an album with a new batch of songs the band eventually split up. A great shame as they had great potential.