REVIEW
Electric Soft Parade + Kid Galahad + Singleskin
By Matt Ridgway

Saturday night at On Air East provided another great night of entertainment once again, only this time the entertainment wasn't just musical. A performance by The Electric Soft Parade made it a night to remember - but I'll tell you all about that later.

Despite the late start Singleskin mounted the stage and began the night. Singleskin are from Fife and currently have a single named '79 Electroshock Treatment'. The lead singer has a distinct similarity to the vocals of Mercury Rev and with hints of Shed Seven in some of the chorus'. From the start they were received well but this is no doubt down to them being local and dragging all their mates along for the gig. Despite the fact that the music was great and they had the crowd on their side, to me there seemed to be something lacking, maybe it was their stage presence or lack of depth within the music. This was corrected for the performance of the single, a megaphone was used to great effect - ala Matt Bellamy of Muse - and a backing track was added. Maybe if they brought in a keyboard/synth player they would have that extra something. Singleskin are a great band who are going to do well and I hope they find the confidence to boost their stage show, but check them out if you see them and I certainly recommend you buy the single if you see it.

A big thank you to the band for donating a signed copy of the CD to my ever growing goodie bag which will be a prize in a competition in the not-to-distant future. Find out more about the band at www.singleskin.co.uk

The next band tonight were, in my opinion, the best band of the night. Kid Galahad are a brilliant new band who supported the Cosmic Rough Riders on their recent tour. Right from the start Kid Galahad showed promise by opening with a really energetic number. After the first couple I suddenly remembered that I was actually supposed to be reviewing the gig not enjoying it and forgetting about anything else, but that's what I was doing! The lead singer leapt about the stage with the movements of Prince and putting Iggy Pop to shame. It was just a shame that the majority of the audience preferred to stay at the bar. Kid Galahad seemed to be very versatile, they went from high energy punky pop, to an acoustic chill with some great moog sounds. When the lead singer used a keyboard it was like they were a different band - whether this is good or bad it depends on the listener, I liked it.

They started to end the set with a great song about having sex with your parents in the house, 'Hornaplenty' was probably my favourite song. It had a real punk edge with a touch of metal. Then they closed up with 'Pack it in' which was a great song with an almost Jazzy finish to it, it was a happy ending to the best of the music because what was about to happen was anything but happy (although hilariously amusing in a sick kind of way).

Electric Soft Parade? What can I say about these guys, well I don't know much about the music as there wasn't much of it. I was more concerned about the actions of the band. During the first song there were a few problems with the set up, the guitar wasn't coming through and they were complaining about the monitors. Playing in a band I can tell you that there are often problems with set up and sound guys often cause grief, but what confused me was that the band had their own sound guy!? They tried to take it out on the promoter and the sound team but I can tell you from experience that they are a great team. Drummer Tom White decided to knock half of his kit over after the first song in a fit of rage. Then his older brother, guitar and vocalist Alex White gave a big 'Fuck you!' to the promoter. This was just the start of their protest.

They started to abuse Scotland for being a bad place to play and I have a memory of them abusing the Scottish people (not a good move when playing to a Scottish audience). They then entered the third and final song, which was obviously a jamming session. I wrote down in my notes that there is 'no need for a ten minute song', but I then had to change it to 'twenty minutes'. Drummer Tom threw his broken sticks out AT the audience, they improvised with crazy sound effects like you heard on Radio Shows in the early forties. Then left the stage with another 'Fuck you' aimed at the crowd.

Now many bands have attitudes and often get annoyed at gigs, but they are usually well established and have a large following. Electric Soft Parade are very new and they're only young (Tom, 17 and Alex, 20) and to be honest from what I heard they're not that good, just another new band doing the old quiet to loud routine. And without the effects they're just your usually three piece rock band.

Electric Soft Parade may be a good band, but no-one was there to see them really, and no-one seemed that bothered that they cut it short. They did promise me some goodies before the show but I was advised not to go and speak to them after, understandably. I would recommend you go and see them if you get the chance, especially if Kid Galahad are supporting them. But as for that night, it was more about the attitudes of this pretentious and young band. Nothing new just a bunch of grumpy teenagers.

The night was enjoyable for me as I got to see some great bands and watch a performance of which I've never seen the likes before. Good luck to the band though on controlling their temper for the rest of the tour. And well done to On Air East, Beatgenerator and AudioWave for putting up with them.