The Blue Light Initiative Launch Night
The Latest Bar has long been the attractive host of more esoteric and open-ended events, such as The Ukelele Research and Development Society, charity auction evenings, parties, and any and every kind of live music. The starry backdrop of their downstairs venue was thus the perfect mixture of dimly lit and enchanting required for the launch of The Blue Light Initiative.
The Blue Light Initiative is the musical brainchild of Alastair Gray, lead singer of The Stars Down to Earth, and is looking to recruit as many bands as possible for regular nights around the venues of Brighton, not only seeking to open doors for Brighton bands of any genre but also to give the public what it wants: sweeties, raffles, the occasional on-stage live-action snapping of drum-kits, and a large amount of excellent music at reasonable prices. Wilkommen Collective, be afraid.
Aside from the copious amounts of sweets lying around, every punter was provided a ticket on entry which gave them a chance to win one of several amazing prizes later in the night, including the illustrious beat-box stylophone, which has no doubt provided its new owner with literally hours of entertainment. However, we're not really here to talk about the quirky and essential touches which make an interesting evening a truly special one: we want to talk about the bands who are already a part of this exciting new musical endeavour.
The Bobby McGees were on usual twee form with their mixture of rhythm, love of love, ukelele, and super-strength adorable-ness. Don't let them fool you though, their songs turn on a sixpence, and what you thought was a beautiful if sugary love song becomes a shouted tirade against everything that can go wrong, while an impressive snapshot of paranoid loneliness becomes a reminder of cosy friendship. It's all celebratory, and set to a shimmying and self-aware mix of do-wop beats and non-stop uke. Always worth a watch.
Yokoko struck me, brutally, with the impressive cohesion of incredibly varied influences – the perfect harmonies between dual lead guitarist Sam and keyboardist Sev are spot on. They are also mind-blowingly happy, even while Sev professes to songs such as 'Cold Black Heart' being largely centred on her or, in the case of 'Castanets with Bells', one hideously annoying flatmate. The cheery Japanese pop vibe is shouty, adorable and all-pervasive, reminding me in particular of the severe catchiness of Dogs Die in Hot Cars. Each song is similarly toe-tapping, loud, and above all, happy. Their sound provides a genre-defying meld of pop, folk, disco, ska and indie in crazy fusion, which nonetheless makes total sense to hear live and was inspiring a (very small) dance floor at the time. My only suggestion is that at the next gig they play someone ensures a larger floorspace is cleared...
The Beautiful Word appear to me as a band of two halves. Fronted by the blonde-and-redhaired duo of Emily and Megan, they are backed by a rhythm section to be reckoned with (six string bass!!!! Yeah, I'm somewhat biased...) and some of the most technically perfect rock guitar technique I have seen in a long time. This makes for an interesting folky balance between an almost lounge-act style rock foundation and the ladies' acoustic and vocal dexterity. However the focus on the incredibly high-pitched vocals of the girls, and the cutesy glockenspiel and guitar, make for a rather samey selection of songs. Standout was their closing cover of 'Sweet Like Chocolate', ironically a suitably saccharine comment on a rather soppy set.
Then there was a raffle – I didn't win anything, but then, I got in for free, so I guess that balances out.
The headline act was, of course, Mr Gray's own band, The Stars Down to Earth. After an evening of vaguely disorganised but compellingly fun acts, their performance was a self-assured reminder of how good songwriting can be. They are proof that six rather disparate looking players can form one truly beautiful sound, with a powerful mixture of astute lyricism, jaunty melodies and a fantastically violent rhythm section. In short their songs are quite literally stars dragged down to earth: moving between the fully formed, glowing, burning, and forcefully brilliant to the subtle, blue-white and twinkly. 'Escape from the Robot Monsters' is the dark and anthemic opener, 'Black Maria' is the show-stopping, rock'n'roll pounder, and 'The Futurist' is a quietly pulsing, spellbinding sound-scape. There are other songs, too, but I won't spoil it for you.
The headline act was, of course, Mr Gray's own band, The Stars Down to Earth. After an evening of vaguely disorganised but compellingly fun acts, their performance was a self-assured reminder of how good songwriting can be. They are proof that six rather disparate looking players can form one truly beautiful sound, with a powerful mixture of astute lyricism, jaunty melodies and a fantastically violent rhythm section. In short their songs are quite literally stars dragged down to earth: moving between the fully formed, glowing, burning, and forcefully brilliant to the subtle, blue-white and twinkly. 'Escape from the Robot Monsters' is the dark and anthemic opener, 'Black Maria' is the show-stopping, rock'n'roll pounder, and 'The Futurist' is a quietly pulsing, spellbinding sound-scape. There are other songs, too, but I won't spoil it for you.It is increasingly rare to get to see so many acts in one evening for less than £5: let alone to be assured of their presence and ability to make nice noises on stage. With any luck, The Blue Light Initiative will continue to further heights of success, and be able to guarantee you exactly that.
