Reviewed on 5th April 2010.

Shakinouts

Live at Cockpit on Friday, 12th March 2010

From the start tonight the intention is making sure that the gig showcases songs from the Shakinouts' recently released EP, and hoping it's a successful farewell gig for Ben Hope, the Shakinouts bassist who is leaving the band to go to Australia. Both they achieve extremely well, considering the sound problems, unusual for the Cockpit, that the bands had throughout the night.

The night kicks off with relatively new to the music scene Draconian opening the antics, having pulled in a reasonably big fan base to play their Pop/Rock filled riffs to. It's easy to forget how young this band is with their control of the stage, but they opened the evening strongly

What hits you from the start of the Meet Me in Vegas set is how strong the vocals are, similar to the style of Florence and The Machine. The electro-rock music is reminiscent to that from the eighties but it's unfortunate that it doesn't always link as well as it could, due to the sound issues tonight.

With chants of 'SVJ, SVJ' throughout the room, South View Juniors have got their following here tonight. With guitar-led songs similar to the style of the likes of Oasis and Doves, besides the guitars clashing due to the aforementioned technical issues, South View Juniors get the audience going ready for the appearance of the main act.

Walking out to numerous cheers and shouts, Shakinouts are here to play their heart out showcasing songs from their recently released EP, and to generally have a good time. With bassist Ben Hope leaving for the land of Australia, they intend on making tonight's show one to remember. The Indie-Pop quartet full of energy play an extremely strong set based around the new songs such as 'Get Up', baring a resemblance to the likes of Pigeon Detectives and even Madness and 'Ten Steps Ahead'; just two of the songs that demonstrate the different song writing vocal styles of the band. It's just a shame that the latter of the two isn't quite as strong as it should be due to a continuous problem with Matt's microphone tonight. Front man Jamie takes the lead vocals on last year's single 'Are You Happy?' prompting clapping and a sing along from the crowd. Another fan favourite seems to be the uniquely named 'The Ballad of Phil and Liz', prompting further participation from the Cockpit crowd tonight. The hard work that this band put in is evidently showing during each song performance. Various song titles are shouted when Ben requests what song they should finish on for his final time, and the band seem to settle for a second performance of 'Are You Happy?' which indeed everybody seems to be upon the end of this gig. A very impressive set from yet another local band, proving that the music scene within Leeds is ready to take over again.