Last Friday, myself and fellow NE:MM writer, Leo Lumley, paid a visit to the Head of Steam in Newcastle City Centre to see some of the best Lo-Fi music the North East has to offer. The venue itself recently has had a fresh lick of paint and is now kitted out with a new PA and lights, thus is no longer a dark, dungeon-like space but instead a great sounding venue with delightful ambiance. At a measly £3 entry, this was one of the best value gigs I've been to, and that's before we even get started on how incredible the bands were.
Proceedings kicked off with noisy guitar pop duo, Rice Milk. The band create short, catchy pop songs backed with jangly guitar chords and driving drumbeats that allow the light, melodic vocals to shine through perfectly. The performance switched to and fro between tame and energetic which at points had members of the audience subtly headbanging along.
Next to the stage were Apache Viking, an energetic four piece with all the riffs and grooves you could possibly want. The band combines elements of Indie rock, post-punk and funk, reminiscent of the late Dananananaykroyd with an added Lo-Fi flare. In addition to this, angular rhythms, hooky guitar lines and witty charms made the group a pleasure to watch.
Brighton's finest melodic noise pop band, Tyrannosaurus Dead, was next to grace the stage. Using the venue's new PA system to its limits, the band created an intense wall of sound out of distortion, fuzz and crashing cymbals. The music was a pleasant assault on the ears, rendering me near deaf within five minutes of the set with tones ranging from a shoegaze style cacophony to gloomy, downtempo lullabies.
Headlining the event was Newcastle based Noise Folk duo, Something. Usually performing with a third member on guitar/keys, the band played a somewhat warped collection of their songs due to being one man down and also being very, very drunk. The first song saw singer/guitarist Oliver Catt venturing into the audience and at one point ramming his head into my torso before returning to the stage to proclaim how intoxicated he was. The performance was energetic and filled with moments of drunken hilarity along with raw emotional bouts of shouting. For the second to last song, the band invited the audience to come on stage to play with them, with drummer David now standing where the audience once was, I found myself and the majority of the audience hitting drums with sticks on the command of Oliver. The set ended with a climax of feedback and percussion, leaving many questioning what they had just witnessed as they stare at Oliver collapsed next to the drum kit as David packs up around him. Something are definitely one of the best live bands in Newcastle, if you see these guys perform I can assure you that you're in for a treat.
Words: Alex Greenup
Picture: David Wala
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