Reviewed on 7th September 2006.

Worriedaboutsatan

Live at Atrium on Tuesday, 5th September 2006

Poor Pifco. Unfortunately for them, the organisers of tonight's event, Tiny Cat, haven't realised that for those living outside of the city centre the cutoff point is basically about 11pm. Which is exactly when Pifco take to the stage.

Not their fault, not specifically Tiny Cat's fault either, and entirely my fault that I'm so skint at the moment that I need to utilise my Day Rider instead of forking out for a taxi. Still, it means I miss the reportedly excellent two-piece caterwaulers tonight. Sorry!

With three other bands on the bill, though, it's an eventful night in the ridiculously laid-out upstairs room of The Atrium. Russia Elects Cobwebs, a one-piece experimental guitar show-off session, gets things going at around 8:30. He plays a catalogue of about seven songs, all showcasing his manual dexterity and flare sublimely. Still, after just a couple of tracks, things begin to meander, and his undoubtedly skilful fret-wanking gets tedious very quickly. There's no doubting this man's talent, but as a live show it simply doesn't work, leaving myself and, I'm sure, other members of the audience decidedly bored.

The Civil Service are up next, recently re-branded from the short-lived Invisible Friends and back with a new image and a slight change of sound. Their choppy indie style remains, but big, epic, affected guitar noises seem more prominent, as do casually-worn ties and a big projection screen behind them. It's all very iLiKETRAiNS in approach - not so much musically, but their entire appearance, right down to their press release style - and there is some musical talent boiling up here, but I'm still left with the feeling that The Civil Service believe themselves to be far more interesting than they actually are. What is showcased tonight is a relatively good indie band with some dubious vocals and an already-done gimmick. Not bad, by any means, but nothing mind-blowing.

Worriedaboutsatan, then, are the last band I experience tonight, and things do pick up a little here. The two-piece, formerly guitarists with the late Johnny Poindexter, return with a new downbeat electronica project, and definitely manage to be the most impressive act of the night. Despite the beats and the bleeps, it's all very much an unadventurous post-rock affair, but somehow it works better than it should, particularly live and in a setting like this one. The tunes never really go anywhere, and there's nothing particularly impressive about it per se, but it's performed well and sets a nice, laid-back atmosphere. A small comedy factor arrives with the sampling of a Bon Jovi song and a voice, halfway through the set, that appears to refer to "sexy Worriedaboutsatan." That's pushing it.

In all, it's an enjoyable event in The Atrium, despite the evening's small audience and the room's insistence on nobody more then three metres away from the stage being able to see a thing. The music takes a while to build up, but it gets there in the end, and while no act is truly remarkable tonight, it's still a decent evening's entertainment.

And I Sky-Plussed Lost as well, so that's all right. Getting good now, isn't it?