Melt my No Age into a Banana

Last week was possibly the best gig week in ages. It's not every week you get to see two super super amazing shows, hence I am still feeling rather chuffed as the the gigs have had a long lasting warm effect.

First in question is Melt Banana.

Donning some headlamps and nothing else in the way of lighting, they play an exceptional set of what can only be described as virtuoso experimental rock punk metal. No, not the lame kind, the bloody amazing kind


Relentless pit, exceptional musicianship, and a ten minute encore which squeezed in 10 songs. Brilliant.

Second up, No Age. The lineup was great, Male Bonding, Abe Vigoda and No Age. Abe Vigoda somewhat disappointingly steered clear of old material in favour of new. Being a huge of fan of their guitarist's lead work, the new material meant he was stuck on keyboards the whole night. Male Bonding however don't do keyboards, and they sound like Nirvana circa Bleach era. This is a good thing and I am won over.

No Age were rather good and transformed XOYO into a massive moshing beast. I stage dived for the first time and they bashed out their high octane tunes including my favourites Eraser and Teen Creeps. Anyone who can spot either member of SNH in the vid below wins a prize of somesort -

Chapter24 - Love

SNH veterans Chapter24 were kind enough to send us a copy of their new song ‘Love’. Typical of the angular pop ensemble, the tune is full of jarring, punchy riffs; blasting, kicking beats and raucous vocals: think Blondie or a happy Sonic Youth. You can download their song free here.

Shield Your Eyes

Courtesy of the lovely Stef from Shield Your Eyes we’ve gotten hold of a live recording of the band’s set from our last night. Check it out here.

The band also has a rather ace show coming up to celebrate the release of their 3rd album. We urge you to go down and check it out.

Action Beat Vs Shield Your Eyes Vs Stig Noise Vs The Patio Set

'This is going to be sick' read one punter’s preview and it was. Soph and I were rather happy with the lineup we got together for our latest instalment of Scene Not Herd. Not least because it had the finest DIY bands in the whole of the UK, it also contained the loudest. You can't comprehend loudness till you're watching 3 drummers and 6 guitarists slay the Macbeth in Old Street. Anyways we’ll get to that in a bit.

Openers The Patio Set have been holed away with Bear Driver recording their new record. Tonight was there first gig in aaages and they didn't disappoint. Opening with the downright creepy canon-esque basslines of Burn Slower, they played an energetic set of frenetic angular, yet tuneful, post punk. Their songs have tendency to build slowly, much like with Mogwai’s songs, then end triumphantly. This is best showcased on Empire, with the Arcade Fire-esque four part melody singing bringing the piece to a climax. Ending with the Shellac-influenced Highgate Owl Nightmare, The Patio Set capture the crowd with their knack of keeping the noise mongers and the melody makers simultaneously happy.

Unfortunately my time had come, and I begrudgingly made my way to the door, where my shift had arrived. Yes, by all means put on great nights, but be warned, someone’s got to do the door... or the the BBQ. Yes we had a BBQ. Sophie was wo-manning the BBQ and whilst the door is not the funnest thing in the world, at least I didn't smell of meat and smoke, because if I did, I would eat myself.

My duty on the door meant I missed noiseniks Stig Noise MMX. This proved to be a mighty shame as by all accounts they were amazing. I did catch one song and they were all set up on the bloody floor! Brutally loud driving basslines spliced by the dulcet trumpet reminded me of last months Scene Not Herdsters Drum Eyes, but think more menacing, like the soundtrack to the end of the world. I yearned to watch more but alas I couldn't get out of door duty that quickly and return to my post.

40 minutes later....

Yay back in the game, Shield Your Eyes are a unwieldy bunch. Tales of vodka injections aside, they come on to an expectant and thoroughly excited crowd. Much like The Patio Set, they balance melody and brashness perfectly. I witness some sexy crowd dancing and get lost in the three piece’s set. Reminiscent of the Oxes and Part Chimp, and the mathy side of metal, the crowd were very disappointed when I told them to cut their set. Cue a Guns and Roses Reading Festival moment.

So now to Action Beat. Yes, they take leaves from Lightning Bolt, Sonic Youth, Boredoms, as well as loudness lessons from My Bloody Valentine, however, I’m not going to go on about what they sound like. I’m just going to describe what I saw and how I felt. They set up three drummers on stage, as well as numerous amps all over the venue. The guitarists/bassists, which I believe numbered 5-6 were on the floor. They started playing and the riffs felt like hammers thwacking you full on the face. Every in-sync bass & kick feels like the fist of a giant punching you in the gut, and its marvellous. Everyone in The Macbeth celebrated and lapped up the music, even if was making their ears bleed. I temporarily went and stood in between the line of drummers and guitarist, and I am pretty sure I was in the eye of a storm; I felt like He Man when he had the power. Do not be mislead, this band are more about loudness and have tunes, but live, they are a complete force of nature.

BAN.errrrr?!

Yeah, so this wasn't what I wanted to post about tonight; but well I guess life works out like that sometimes, more to come tomorrow!

About a year and a half ago, before our first Scene Not Herd, we decided that we needed a banner (because obviously that is what all good nights are about). We were determined to make it ourselves and spent a day, maybe more, drawing, taping and spray painting it. We managed to super glue it to the floor and turn Alwin’s living room red; in fact the red haze lasted so long he was convinced there was a problem with his TV (months later he cleaned it and realised it was just paint – doh!). But yeah, point is this was a labour of love.

You can enjoy it’s first showing here, for our night with Peepholes, Internet Forever, Friendship and The Patio Set:



Then, amidst one of our more riotous nights, the banner fell down and went ‘missing’. It was like losing a child/limb; needless to say, there were little SNH tears. But we picked our forlorn selves up and made another banner, but, well IT.WAS.SHIT.

You can see it here (WARNING: MAY OFFEND – not the band, we love them, just the banner):



We quickly decided that it was a massive pile of crap and that we had to remake our original…so here are some photos of us doing just that:





Happy days!

Scene Not Herd presents the Noise on Noise All-Dayer w/ DRUM EYES

We've had a little SNH break of late. This has generally involved sitting, sun, writing, guitars, festivals, alcohol and just general fun. But we're back, and well, we've decided to make it a gooden! Here are the awesome deets!

Scene Not Herd is proud to present the Noise on Noise All-dayer: a ten hour spectacular featuring the best new bands the UK has to offer. This tirade of awesome musicality will be accompanied by an archive film mash-up of video-art oddity; regular art oddity; fabulous arty zines; food and a wonderful agglomeration of delicious merchandise. Oh and its also Alwin's birthday... party on!

DRUM EYES|SCREAMING TEA PARTY|TEETH OF THE SEA|GUM TAKES TOOTH|COLD PUMAS|RICA MINAMI|LOVESICK TEENAGERS|GOD DONT LIKE IT (DJ)|DIRTY BINGO(DJ)|THE 405(DJ)|DANCE MAGIC DANCE(DJ)|SCENE NOT HERD(DJ)

7 August
@The Others
Stoke Newington
6-8 Manor Road
N16

Tickets: £7.50 from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/86453

Best Glasto ever...

OK, so I was lucky enough to get some tickets for Glastonbury. It's safe to say, it was quite possibly the best thing I'd done in ages. Pimms, bands, extreme sun, massive open fields, sunrise by the stone circle and a bunch of hippies. I'm still smiling thinking about it, and I miss it dearly, which in all my years of attending festivals, I never thought I'd miss a festival.

The many highlights for me were undoubtedly Snoop Dogg, Holy Fuck, Stevie Wonder, Flaming Lips, Beach House, tUne YarDs and Rolf Harris (sorry). And this has to be the best opening to a set ever? AF