For me the Tea Time Shuffle is both a blessing and a curse. The great thing is you get to see 5 decent bands and at the same time are provided with the opportunity to start drinking at 6pm. The problem I have is that the next day I wake up with the hangover from hell and no idea what happened the night before while my mouth tastes like a dead rat wrapped in a sweaty sock.But from what I can recall it was a tremendous night where each band kindly donated their share of the profits to help with the earthquake disaster fund. So immediately every act should be applauded and be given a firm pat on the back.
So while it was teaming down with rain last night and people's fences were being blown down it was up to The Smokestacks to kick things off. The band's bright and breezy performance did wonders to distract me from the misery outside. They were almost like a faint ray of sunshine with their upbeat bluesy guitar based pop which was laidback and at times delivered almost effortlessly.
Next on stage were Drat who knocked out a set of lo-fi indie rock. But having heard a number of their songs on CD I was disappointed that they didn't come across as well in person. The sort of infectious hooks that their CDs are packed with were missing and this gave for a somewhat average performance.
iLiKETRAiNS were next and their presence alone goes to show what a great variety of music the Tea Time Shuffle offers. Highly creative and atmospheric this Leeds based post-rock outfit's efforts tonight were powerful and dramatic. Coupled with the images in the background it gave for both a visual and audio experience unlike any other band in the area. Unless of course Hope of the States were from Leeds.
So now one minute I'm listing to fragile music that ranges from moments of near silence to explosions of pure noise to Cardboard Cowboy who are literally armed with an enormous of amount of near perfect pop tunes. Not only that but they win the award for being the happiest band in the venue with every member packing a cheesy grin as they sing along to their addictive and ridiculously wonderful pop rock tunes.
Last but not least were good old Vib Gyor who are now so good that I've run out of ways to talk about the wondrous soundscapes that these boys create before my eyes. Basically is you haven't seen them then you should. If you have seen them and didn't like them then go see them again. If you've seen them and didn't like them and then went to see them again and still didn't like them then I can't help you. But everyone should see them at least once before they get too big and never return to Leeds again. One negative point I can make about the band's performance tonight though is that their guitarist/keyboardist is no longer bearing his slightly over the top moustache which is truly a major loss to the band and the Leeds music scene in general.
