4/5/2013 Eureka Machines & The Loyalties @ The Borderline

Subject	Eureka Machines & The Loyalties @ The Borderline
DateCreated	6/2/2013 6:33:00 PM
	Off to The Borderline tonight to see a great couple of bands. First are The Loyalties.  This band formed from the ashes of the final lineup of the much missed Yo-Yo's and have a very similar sound - Tom Spencer who shared vocals in the Yo-Yo's is now on bass instead of 6 string and assuming all lead vocal duties. Old Yo-Yo's song 'Stockholm Sick Blues' is often in the Loyalties set., but this band have songs strong enough to stand up in their own right - particularly from their newly released second album 'Til The Death Of. Rock & Roll'. The album's title track is a particularly cracking song. The album itself is quite ambitious for a down and dirty rock 'n' roll band - a concept album with an accompanying book that tells the story the album illustrates in song. The Loyalties brand of punk 'n' roll goes down a storm with the crowd in the Borderline tonight. And so to the headliners. It's about a year since Eureka Machines played in London and this show has been highly anticipated by many. Consequently The Borderline is sold out and I think they could have played a bigger venue instead. The atmosphere in the venue is terrific! For several years now I have been of the opinion that Eureka Machines are probably the best live band in the country as far as giving an original and highly entertaining performance is concerned. Nothing tonight changes my opinion. Not only are this band great to watch, they are also excellent musicians in their own right and can rock pretty damned hard. This is a band who very much tread their own path. No one else looks or sounds like them, and although you can detect a few influences (probably the Wildhearts being the most noticable) they are quite unique. Although they have build up a strong hardcore following mainly due to their fantastic live shows, this is a band who have always had to struggle to keep going - after two very good albums being almost completely passed over by the media they were thinking of splitting up a year or so ago. They have never been fashionable or considered 'cool' by the music business media mafia - almost totally ignored by press and radio alike - probably due to not fitting into any pigeonhole or genre. Eureka Machines have always trodden their own rather eccentric path and continue to do so. For their third album they decided to try the fan funding system which has worked so well for Ginger from the Wildhearts. Their PledgeMusic campaign worked far better than they were expecting and was five times oversubscribed - result being a fine third album 'Remain In Hope' with their best production values and songwriting yet while retaining their own unique style. The album is a definite step forward - containing both hard and heavy rifftastic rockers and a newer side in poignant autobiographic songs. As this is a headline show the band play for much longer than we are used to - songs from all three albums are played over a one and a half hour plus set. Top value for money! Eureka Machines are on great form tonight - I've never seen them give a less than amazing show. They are tightly drilled and highly rehearsed, while still somehow retaining something in punk attitude. Apparently their tour is going really well, and frontman Chris Catalyst later states that this show is one of his top three favourite Eureka Machines gigs ever! No one goes home disappointed tonight that's for sure. Lets hope we don't have to wait another year before the band return to 'that London' again... The Borderline closes ridiculously early for a Saturday night and soon after 10.30 they are trying to chuck us out. Having completely avoided the venue's overpriced bar all night I head for the nearby 12 Bar Club for some more reasonably priced beverages along with some friends - an excellent way to finish the night off!