23/9/2012 JD & The FDCs, Stereo Juggernaut and Dead Identities @ Nambucca

Subject	JD & The FDCs, Stereo Juggernaut and Dead Identities @ Nambucca
DateCreated	9/25/2012 2:49:00 PM
	Sunday night finds me heading off down Holloway Road to Nambucca for a night I had really been looking forward to that didn't turn out quite as good as it should have. The turnout could have been better as some heavy rain kept the lightweights and fake music fans away. The price on the door was very reasonable as usual at this venue, but I got a shock when I bought a pint! Since last year when the bar prices were noticeably lower than most other music venues the cost of a pint has risen in stages from pub prices to West End club prices - a pint of Bombardier or a bottle of Newcastle brown is now well over the £4 mark. I think I shall have to reconsider my drinking policy on future visits... The original 3 band bill announced for tonight was excellent - I would have come to see any one of Dead Identities, Stereo Juggernaut, or JD & The FDCs on their own as would many of my friends. Then inexplicably another three bands none of us had heard of were added to the bill at short notice - as it's Sunday and and public transport finishes early people began to get concerned about getting home if they wanted to see the headliners - they weren't due on stage until 11.00.... The first band I wanted to see was Dead Identities They were due onstage at 8.00 and I arrived with a few minutes to spare, but another band went on instead and Dead Identities went on half an hour late - things were already starting to go wrong. The band played great - plenty of energy as usual. This band have steadily developed over several years and their trademark speed pop/punk sound has evolved into somthing more interesting and tuneful while still being fun and retaining their punk attitude. Going on early suited this band as they and many of their fans are from South London so would have had public transport issues late on a Sunday night. Frontman Keef is looking far more at home and at ease fronting the band these days. He seems much more relaxed and appears to be thoroughly enjoying himself - as are the rest of the band. The sheer enthusiasm showed by Dead Identities is infectious and rubs off on the crowd ensuring we all have a good time too. Next is another of the bands no one has heard of, although to be fair they have brought a few mates along - which I guess is the only reason they are on the bill as like the first band they don't sound too good... Stereo Juggernaut are on next. Unfortunately one of the venue's staff decides the dreaded smoke machine should be used for the rest of the evening's bands - thereby ruining any chace of some decent quality pictures.  It's a while since I've seen this band now as they have been busy working on new songs. This is only the second time I've seen them since they got rid of their keyboard player and I've never heard them sound so good! There is still a laptop onstage providing some samples, etc but it's far more in the background now and tonight the guitar is much louder. I like this a lot. Stereo Juggernaut sound much more aggressive and in your face tonight compared to the many other times I've seen them and I much prefer this sound. And I don't have to leave early due to late stage times and public transport issues - unlike last time I saw the band at this venue. Sorry there's only a couple of pictures - blame the smoke machine as the rest were unusable. There is yet another lacklustre band on before JD & The FDCs finally take to the stage. They had originally been due on at 11.00, but after much negotiation with the venue their stage time was brought forward to a much more reasonable 10.15. In the end they still had to wait until 11.00 before starting their set and many people had left by then. Jamie was less than happy about this as his band had travelled down from the midlands just to play this show to a handful of people instead of the reasonable crowd in the venue earlier.. To be fair, I've seen bands play to far less people at this venue - and the hardcore who remained were treated to the best show of the night! They might have been disappointed at the amount of people remaining in the venue at this late hour, but JD & The FDCs really did throw everything they had into this show. This is only the second time I've seen this band. They were very good the first time, but they have improved their live show considerably since then. Punk attitude mixed with catchy songs and choruses that get stuck in your head - those still left at Nambucca were treated to one of the best performances I've seen by any band this year. The set ended with some 'audience participation' in the ridiculously catchy chorus of 'Stupid Music Played By Idiots' - a song which amazingly they didn't even put on their recent debut album 'Recognise' because they thought it was only good enough for a B-side. JD & The FDCs really played a blinder tonight - those of you who weren't there missed out big time!

PS: After a period of sharp decline starting around the time the beer prices rose very sharply and coinciding with a lack of booking the type of rock 'n' roll bands I like to see this venue closed in early 2014.