Bicycles - icicles - tricycles - testing

A very good evening to you.

On Friday I went to a gig, which was nice. It was Test Icicles headlining, supported first by Damn Arms, from Australia, and then by Help She Can't Swim.

The main reason I was there was that one of my oldest friends from school, Ro, was doing merch for HSCS, it was ace to have a reunion since we haven't seen each other for roughly 6 years. Awesome!

A few pics here....

Me and Ro, mid-ROCK...



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HSCS, that t-shirt is Ro's you know. He was meant to be onstage but his first shot at Manchester stardom was robbed by a soundcheck kerfuffle. Darn... still, the t-shirt made it onstage!



Click to biggify...


And Dev from Test Icicles.



Click to embiggen...


Since I'm tired, here is a very short review on each.

Damn Arms - hmm. Don't connect with crowd. Singer sounds like Morrissey , ie can't pitch very well and needs to be careful of nodules. Shady facial hair. Shave it! Guitarist manic. Bassist/backing singer good, has attitude, can play, looks good. Drummer pounds out beats despite chronic jet lag. They start to win over the crowd after a slow start, lacking a bit in material though. Some emo kids throw bottles, which worries Dev Test Icicles because "shit man, they can fucking play their instruments". By the end of their set Damn Arms are rocking.

Help She Can't Swim - best on the night for me - I'm not just saying it - strange emo indie post hardcore something or other band that they are. They have a laugh and so do I. They use a £3 keyboard which commands respect. Drummer rather good despite looking about 14. Animated on stage, they connect from the off. People know their songs. Obligatory instrument swapping ensues. I like them, more live than on record, always good. I feel compelled to buy a 7" single. "Fuck your band, suck our band" they say, and everyone here seems willing to go along.

Test Icicles - Nutters. "Test - test - test - test" chant the crowd as the lights go down, I'll admit to goosebumps. Dev plays a pink Squier, well done sir. Singer kneels down for the first two songs. They appear to be down by 1 x drummer and 1 x bass player. However they do have 1 x ipod and 1 x silent band member called Andy (with long blonde hair) (allegedly) to make up for it. The crowd love them. Songs seem to start and stop more or less randomly and it's never guaranteed that whoever's playing/singing will reach the end of the song at the same time as the ipod. Ultimately entertaining, though with more "we're ace" attitude onstage than their talent can justify... although Dev in particular proves to be rather handy on the pink Squier, he used to listen to Joe Satriani I'm sure. So not my favourite band, though I met them to say hello to before the gig and they are all thoroughly nice chaps. They seem to have a hardcore fanbase, so who am I to judge? Their album is going to sell very very very well, I think. Frankly, it's not music. I'm not sure what it is, it's like nothing I've ever heard before. That's good... right...?

That's your lot because I have to be up for church in the morning. Night night :-)