Live Music With Liz Crosthwaite

Published 14 Jul 2011 18:30 5 Comments

Joining the dots

IF you were looking to sate a large and varied musical appetite last week, then you'd need not have looked further than DoubleDotBash at South Street Arts Centre and RISC in Reading.

With LOADS of bands over three stages, it was hard to pick who to see, but a game warm-up early in the afternoon came in the form of Gonzo And The Razz with their enjoyable Kinks-influenced 60s pop'n'roll, which brought some sunshine into South Street's very, very dark main room. Next up, was Stuart Clark - a sign of the dramatic shifts in genre and style that the day encompassed - where most of the audience flopped to the floor to listen to his almost painfully gentle folk ballads.

Now for something completely different: Dolly Dolly, a sinister-looking yet jolly balding man sat on stage fiddling with an Apple Mac. Through said machine he filled the room with plinky-plonky-beepy sounds, ocean-noises, static and radio samples - more aural art installation than gig, it was like listening to someone re-tuning a radio every few minutes, but - and don't ask me to explain why, maybe it was the cider - better than it sounds.

A stop-in for Tilehurst Children's Arkestra in the smaller South Street room delivered up a powerful wall of instrumental rock - a forceful antidote to all those people who whine 'but music's lame without lyrics' - that left brains vibrating for hours afterwards.

Quiet Quiet Band played a lively set of their cheekily macabre songs in a disconcertingly sunny room upstairs at RISC, and were swiftly followed by Variety And Milk, a rag-tag group who like to swap about their wide range of instruments between - and sometimes during - their bewitchingly knowing folk songs. Despite a poor choice of name, the debut gig by Reading supergroup Jettes was a storming set that transported us back to the 60s with scuzzy, goth-tinged post-punk with pop sensibilities. Minotaur Shock, a man with a electric drum kit and a sampler, created a wave of electronica in the main room that was not only intricate and interesting, but damn good fun to dance to, while over at RISC, Sleeps In Oysters produced a cross between electronica and... a mess? Performance art? Who knows. A suitably raucous, drum-abusing set from Amy's Ghost rounded off the 11 hour music binge.

Tweet

This article appeared in Villager 14 Jul 11

Have your say. Post a comment on this article.

• 

  Alvaro Inglese
  Unregistered User
  Jul 15, 12:39
  Report comment

  Very nicely written write-up of a great day. Cheers!
  
  Recommend?   Yes 1     No 1

• 

  S C A R
  Unregistered User
  Jul 15, 13:37
  Report comment

  More fey scene cobblers. Any danger of a non-eighties riffing band? If I want to listen to a bad Human League b-side I'll buy a Human League single...
  
  Recommend?   Yes 1     No 2

• 

  Dolly Dolly Fan
  Unregistered User
  Jul 15, 20:27
  Report comment

  Dolly Dolly was the most exciting and funniest thing I saw all day.
  
  Recommend?   Yes 1     No 0

• 

  Alvaro Inglese
  Unregistered User
  Jul 16, 11:51
  Report comment

  Hey scar, other acts on that day included hookworms, shield your eyes, workin' man, poino and a bunch of other stuff, not too fey a day.
  
  Recommend?   Yes 1     No 0

• 

  thegoodmrbrodie
  Unregistered User
  Jul 18, 14:13
  Report comment

  i can see why S C A R might think that it is a load of "fey scene cobblers" based on this review. the reviewer has reviewed what she saw. and as far as i am concerned she missed a load of the good stuff! but that is how taste works.
  
  perhaps S C A R should come down to one of our regular doubledotdash!? nights at south street to see that the only 80s riffs we are celebrating are those provided by people like sonic youth, minutemen, minor threat, big black and the like.
  
  the next one is on 5th august and features bilge pump from leeds. four pounds. put your money where your mouth is. in fact, if you say you are called S C A R, then i'll let you in for nothing.
  
  Recommend?   Yes 1     No 0

Post a comment

Your Comment:

Registered users log in here

Username or email

Password

If you are registered with us, you can login here. If you are not registered, do so now.
Once logged in you wont have to complete word verification each time you post.

Prefer not to register?

Screen Name *required

Email (not displayed) *required

Usernames must be 4 - 20 characters. Registration only takes a few minutes. Registered users can also take part in competitions and other features of the site.

Word Verification:
Enter the text as shown.

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our The Guide archives.

Follow @bracknellnews