It's one of the oldest conundrums in music. A band may have the germ of something good in them – but deciding whether or not they’re ready to parade it before a highly critical industry audience can be a matter of considerable delicacy. The old story of the Brinsley Schwarz junket to the US that resulted in a critical hammering for the band at a vital stage in their development is a salutary one. That one wrong move effectively killed the band.
Tonight, only Belfast’s Fast Emperors and Ed Zealous seemed ready for the kind of intense spotlight involved in playing to an audience as likely to savage as to praise.
Ham Sandwich have been hailed as one of the more promising new outfits on the scene, but this can’t have been one of their better nights. It clearly didn’t help that female vocalist Niamh Farrell – who shares singing duties with Podge McNamee – was ill, as the band’s vocals never felt right. Musically they’ve lots of potential, but they’ve also got a way to go before they fully realise their talent. Unless, that is, the presence of a fully-fit Farrell is enough to transform them completely.
Ditto The Ruby Tailights. Frontman Martin Kelly’s songs do possess an inherent charm, with ‘Rocket’ in particular impressing , but to me they seemed to be a year’s hard work away from being ready for an A&R man’s dissection. Sickboy’s infectious punk energy at least got the crowd moving, but I felt that they lacked the killer song that would give substance to their explosive performance. Aleko also seem to have discarded tunes for attitude, offering little in the way of musical originality.
Hopefully they’ll learn, just as Belfast’s Fast Emperors have done. In the past they seemed to be focussed heavily on looking the part, at the expense of the music. Now, however, they’ve got the material to boot, with songs that felt as if they mattered.
Their city neighbours, Ed Zealous also stood head and shoulders above the rest. Their confident onstage attitude was impressive. But without the musical invention which underpins their angular and tuneful new wave punk, it would have been just so much bluster. Maybe there’s something in the air up North, because that was where tonight’s real contenders were from.