Reviewed on 19th March 2006.

The Playmates

Live at Joseph's Well on Saturday, 18th March 2006

A launch gig for a single that isn't actually finished or due out for maybe another month if that... surely such inefficiency can't be associated with The Playmates?

It would seem there is a genuine happy vibe in the air of Joseph's Well tonight and maybe it's due to the 2 support acts who will be sadly omitted from this review due to poor time keeping (not on their behalf). Or maybe it is due to the air of ease that comes from being surrounded by an enormous guest list of friends and fashionistas all out to get drunk and enjoy the moment.

The Terminals are with out doubt one of they most underrated bands Leeds has produced in years and probably come as a pleasant surprise to the vast majority stood in Joseph's Well white-noise tunnel. Having never actually seen the band play without technical problems it seems pointless to mention them here as it may well be part of the show, but when the drum kit and the "bass player on a tape" are actually working The Terminals rip across the stage like few others. Phil Privilege claws his way around like a demented dinosaur in the throws of death while his cohorts wheel away at their buzz-saw guitars. Stand out tunes are the glorious Wrong, the chop-laden Diagnosis and set-ender Dictator. The band seemed a little riled by their equipment mishaps but hopefully a glimpse at the smiling faces when they left the stage would have put those thoughts to the back of their minds.

Now when was the last time you could count 10+ beards at a hip-hop gig? Well where there's a band you should be seeing there is always a crowd who want to be seen that they are they're seeing it. Yes Boss are the latest recruits to the Leeds music business coup d'etat. The beard phenomenon is not the only bizarre issue about this gig, the other is the willingness the crowd have to entirely ignore the fact that these 2 Leeds lads are singing in South-East London accents. Why is this? Simple, Yes Boss are smart little bunnies and the entertaining word play overshadows any misdemeanour in the accents department. Although the biggest cheer goes up for recent DTTR contribution "Meet The Boss", much more inventive is the superb "Indie kids" (which the cynical might say is actually a dig at the vast majority of the audience). "You Indie Kids better eat some pies" is pure poetry. The beats are smart and sassy but too loud on this occasion purely for the fact that they stop a lot of the wit shining through. "NYB" (if that is its title) looks set to become a sure fire future crowd pleaser.

They won't like the comparison but The Playmates tonight produced a guilt-edged shambles not seen since the likes of The Libertines early gigs replete with stage invasion and pile-on. The punk vole Neil Hanson is about the only front man in Leeds who won't be dismissed because he doesn't use hair straighteners and has the audacity to wear an England football shirt for a gig. Those dressed as their uncle in the 70s (thank you Yes Boss) quickly create a mental block around his attire. The band roar out every tune tonight to the delight of the massed support down the front and they are greeted with a volley of plastic pint glass after plastic pint glass... hopefully not full of fermented festival brew (you know what that means). They get away with everything because every song is a chant along belter. Damned Good is still exactly that, Get Me To Doctor is the most pop that has ever been committed to Chlamydia and new single Jackie Wright will bring a smile to every child of Zammo era Grange Hill. "Let's get pissed" shouts Hanson from under a pile of 5 and for the sake of decency this is where the review ends.

Comments

All replies to this article. Log in to post a reply.

On 21st March 2006 at 13:47 Anonymous 5563 wrote...

Don't usually respond to reviews, but gotta correct a couple of "factual inaccuracies".

Re: the accents. I am from the South Coast of England (well, lived there from the ages 5 till about 19, so good as), which is even FURTHER south than London. Gavron is from Glasgow, and certainly doesn't sound Cockney. So there ya go.

Thanks for the positive comments though. By the way, it's "gilt-edged", not "guilt" as in "Catholic guilt". And "throes of death", not "throws". As an award-winning journalist you should be aware of this...(insert smiley here)

Southernly yours,

NYB

On 21st March 2006 at 14:48 Anonymous 30 wrote...

Oooo hasn't he swallowed a dictionary? Fair enough - since 3 people all independently told me you were from Leeds I suggest you spread the word. He didn't sound Scottish though that's for sure!