It is a damp evening when I grudgingly leave my bike halfway up the Gloucester Road on my way to Caf?? Bar Unlimited. I cram my helmet, seat, rear mudguard, gloves and hat into my small rucksack after an amazingly coincidental case of perfect timing with the g-f and a trip to the bank, head into the unknown.
I know very little about Myopic Void, except that they feature the three core members of Gonga, a Bristol band I've yet to see, all reports indicate I'd probably quite like them. We somehow keep missing each other, or I'm just too lazy. Delayed guitar echoes up the stairs and summons us from our comfortable sofa. At the top of the stairs a young student-type says ooh they've got a tremolo pedal, how dull. I resist mocking him loudly and brush past smiling.
The tall guitarist is indeed playing atmospherics, distortion through a delay pedal. A figure is hunched over a Korg synthesiser, creating noise and other droney sounds while the drummer plays tribal rhythms. We sit right at the front because for some reason in this tiny space there is a huge gap in the room, as if the audience are afear'd of what might be. This builds up into a Hendrix crossbred with various metal bands groove that lasts for twenty minutes, peaking and troughing accompanied by vocals from twisted blues hell. My mind does start to wander occasionally, the various riffs stretched perhaps a little bit too long, like they'd perhaps got lost in it themselves. Still, some of it's really good, driving rockbluesmetalnoise so I'm pretty happy.
The Black Diamond Heavies feature slide twin-neck guitar, harmonica, Fender Rhodes and Hammond. They play glorious feelgood Southern blues. Everybody has a good time, because well, it's not new, or ground-breaking, or even 'punk rock' as the posters would have us believe. It's just really toe-tappingly good.
- (Pictures to follow when I get home)
