23/9/2010 Acey Slade & the Dark Party + Stereo Juggernaut @ the Purple Turtle

Subject	Acey Slade & the Dark Party & Stereo Juggernaut @ the Purple Turtle
PostedDate	9/23/2010
	Tonight I'm off to one of my favourite venues - Camden's Purple Turtle. On paper the bill at this Pure Rawk promoted show is less rock 'n' roll and more Goth/electronic than the gigs I normally go to. Unfortunately I can't make it to the show early enough to catch all of the set by Tecnoctitlan. This is the new side-project band from Milena of Shush and Antiproduct. From what I've been told about this band I'm expecting something very pop/electro, but in fact apart from having a keyboard player and no bassist the sound I hear tonight is much more 'rock' than I'm expecting - and I like it! I only arrive in time to catch the last song, but it sounds pretty good.  Next up are Stereo Juggernaut. This band have a big sound, with keyboards adding an electronic and commercial edge to their songs - and a rather 'metal' sounding drummer! Although possibly their best song is the slower 'Fade Away', they can rock hard when they want to as well. The bass could have been louder in the mix though.  It's good to see this band building up a following and consistently getting more people at their gigs than some other bands who constantly hype themselves on the net but only draw about five people to their shows.  The next band are new to British soil. They are Lord Of The Lost and are fronted by Chris 'The Lord' Harms from German OTT glamsters The Pleasures. As 'The Lord' plays a mean lead guitar in The Pleasures I am surprised when I see that although there are two guitarists in this new band he isn't playing one of them and confines himself to singing. Whereas The Pleasures are very tongue in cheek and play the 'irony' card heavily, this band are far more serious - and a lot less fun because of it. They all appear to be excellent musicians, but there isn't much going in in the way of memorable songs behind all the posing and preening. Also, there is bad taste in trousers on display - highlighted by the bass player in particular with his contant 'Maiden' style foot-on-monitor posturing - which just looks ridiculous if you are wearing shorts!  And so to the headliners. I've not been a particular fan of of Acey Slade's previous bands Murderdolls and Trashlight Vision - partly on account of the forced 'can't sing won't sing' vocals - which make me stop listening to a band and lose interest very quickly. Now the man has re-invented himself yet again and headed off in a different direction with a new band and a new sound. On paper this new approach doesn't really appeal to me as it heads in a more Goth and electronic sounding direction. The one song I've heard (She Brings Down The Moon) from the new album sounds polished and commercial, but a bit too overproduced for my taste - so I'm not really expecting to enjoy the UK debut of Acey Slade & the Dark Party. However, I am pleasantly surprised! There are no keyboards in evidence, just drums, bass and two guitars. This is not what I was expecting at all - this is a rock 'n' roll band!  What's more, Acey isn't screaming/shouting/croaking his vocals in his previous forced manner - he's actually singing! This is all rather good. Beforehand, I was half considering leaving before the headliners, or just staying on for part of their set out of curiosity. To my surprise I actually found myself enjoying the band's set and would actually go and see them again. At one point I found myself thinking "They've so ripped ripped off 'She Sell's Sanctuary' for this one!" Then I realised they were actually covering the Cult classic - and later they threw in a surprise Joy Division cover as well. *PS: I have since discovered that the Cult cover appears on the band's album* As a bonus, we get Acey using the bar as an extension of the stage. This is always a good thing, but not seen so often at the Purple Turtle these days as changes to the stage setup have made it less easy to step from the stage straight onto the bar. It's been an enjoyable night at the Purple Turtle and I liked the headline band a lot more than I was expecting - well done Mr Slade for winning me over with a new approach.