Gig review of Ludes + Vatican Jet

Good old rock and roll that's what Vatican Jet dish out! Apparently standing in for Being 747, these lads did a great job! Nothing like Being 747 (who is?!?), they play a blues driven rock and roll that surprises and enthrals in every tune. Their front man (Who looks a bit like a young Robert Plant, with his long curly flowing hair) should have been in the middle of the stage, as he was obviously the focal point, and by having him at the side it detracted from the band. He moves around and plays up the crowd, gesticulating to emphasise words and generally looks like he's having a load of fun! One of my favourite things about this band were the vocals, both main and backing were clear and well sung, and the way they interchanged sentences in some songs worked really well. Fairly tight as a band, could be tighter, but it might take away from the overall style if they were, a bit loose is how this type of music should be played. They could do with a back up guitar though, as their lead guitarist broke a string, and basically spent ages tuning up, which detracts from the performance in my opinion. Overall though a good fun band with good tunes and great to watch and enjoy, will definitely go and see them again!

Ludes I had never heard of, which is a crying shame, but they do have a single coming out and I will be buying it! They are from London and have all turned up looking smart in dapper suits and ties. Their style is a kind of 60s influenced ska and they get you going from the off, ramming home great tunes and looking lively all the time! Some bands it really helps to have a singer who doesn't have to play guitar or anything else, and can just play the fool and dance around whilst singing, and this band is certainly one of them! At one point he held his mic up for the backing singer and him to share a harmony, fantastic, who cares that you lose some of the volume, it looked great! This band looks professional, eats professional, smells professional... in other words IS professional. Gaps between songs are limited to a couple of seconds and so their ska roadshow simply kept rolling and rolling, not even stopping really for their lead guitarist to change guitars when he broke a string. I can't really emphasise how much I enjoyed this band, if I'd been drunk I would have been dancing around like a loon, unfortunately having early lectures and not being a die-hard student I wasn't able to get completely smashed! If they play here again, which I'm sure they will, you have to watch them, oh and definitely buy their single, it's available in all good record shops!