...and the Magical 8-Bollock Band

Whilst my opinions towards pop-punk can be charmingly described as "indifferent" but slightly more honestly as "out and out hatred" my friends largely disagree with these sentiments, and some have even formed bands along this same 4-chord ideal. "...and the Magical 8-Ball Band" are one of these examples.

Performing at a music club by the name of "The Central", the atmosphere was nice, friendly and the drinks weren't too expensive. Myself being myself, I made for the bar.

...And barely half the pint was poured before they started their set. Nice start I guess, no audience preparation, but at least they played well, deciding to open their set with an original number. Their performance was a nice, high energy affair, but they were let down by sound quite a lot, as I couldn't hear much of the guitar or the vocals, and could easily hear the drums and bass, and nobody wants to hear that.

A few songs into their set, the singer (who looks remarkably like James May, but that's probably just me) attempted audience interaction. Back to the bar then. There are a few criticisms of this fellow actually, being an indecisive cock and moving to and from microphone stand more times in separate songs than is strictly necessary. And he needs to stop standing on one foot, with his dancing it makes him look like a disco flamingo.

Highlights from this night are fairly numerous however. A wonderful cover of Dani California was a good thing to hear, being the only cover they made truly their own, the rest being fairly standard pop shit, causing the performance to appeal mainly to 12 year old girls, which is a tremendous shame as their original material is really rather strong. It was also entertaining to witness the crowd banter of "Sorry, you're missing 'Britain's Got Talent' for this," something which does not seem all that rock and roll it must be said. The bassist was also in dire need of a pick halfway through the show, apparently his fingers hurt (fucking pussy), but luckily a devilishly handsome fellow in the crowd had one he could borrow. The last original song they performed (The Fear) was awesome as well, something which I am ashamed to say, and thus will make up for it by pointing out that the Bowling for Soup cover made them look like a group of wannabe child molesters.

Oh, and to this singing flamingo? Don't do high vocals. Ever. It's fucking stupid.

-Az

P.S. The band can be heard at www.myspace.com/welike8balls

P.P.S. The singer to the support band was pretty cute. They're called Without Limit, but I didn't catch a website, so I'm assuming they don't have one, and are therefore the worlds first Amish rock band.