Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam and all venues have Guinness on tap. That’s pure fantasy, of course, but life would be so much more enjoyable if the room were, in fact, full of buffalo and my glass were full of Guinness. Reality, however, always intrudes and the distractions in Ivory Blacks were instead Tidens Tann, Twin Heart, Artie Ziff, Thula Borah and Wasted Years. It’s pen to paper time.
Thula Borah did a thorough job of bringing eloquence to the art of the dirge with their compressed performance hinting at the energy that might transform them should that tension ever be released.
Artie Ziff, on the other hand, worshipped at the altar of good natured, and indeed buoyant, indie rock and demonstrated that they had no fear of maxing out on emotion as they emulated the successes of the bands that have gone before them.
Wasted Years knew what crowd pleasing was all about and delivered the kind of spirited and charismatic performance that might make the non-believer think that rock music had a future. The riffs were big but not as big as frontman Dennis Coles who took it upon himself to entice the audience closer to the stage. That’s entertainment, as wise men used to say.
Closer to that which is metal were Kilmarnock’s lost children Twin Heart. Echoes of darker thoughts and an unmistakeable appreciation of alienation drove their downbeat songs onwards with the consequential intensity almost enough to make the audience stop and think.
Headlining were Tidens Tann. Being German, it is perhaps no surprise that they showed both determination and Teutonic efficiency as they delivered their staccato and yet chant friendly songs out into the room. Their focus was commendable and the mark of a band both rehearsed and committed was there for all to see.
Back out on the street, there was a noticeable lack of buffalo but, fortunately, you would not need to be Sherlock Holmes to find draught Guinness.