The Bloomsbury Ballrooms
Saturday September 29th, 2007
by SP
The future is bright the future is BE. Having been to a few BE nights, high expectations loomed and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. BE had expanded and moved to Bloomsbury Ballrooms. What a fantastic venue – arriving at 9, I was greeted with the grandeur of its art deco hall leading into the main venue. Never seen such an organized cloakroom with friendly staff, I’m well impressed by their efficiency. Beginning the night with a big bang was Fenech-Soler – being the first band on with hardly any people in the massive ballroom. Fenech-Soler was promising with a fuse of Kraftwerk, Frankie Goes to Hollywood… and ahem… a hint of Duran Duran. Playing with gusto but plagued by technical difficulties, these 3 boys cracked on with good humour. Urged and managed to make the small audiences move their feet. They set high standards for the next five bands. Perhaps, this is where it all went wrong or should I rephrase it as ‘downhill’.
Diskoboy – a fusion band with numerous influences from Japanese bubblegum pop, punk to ska. They promised to bring ‘fun’ into indie music with West Coast Disko-Punk Brit-Pop style. They’re actually annoying, too many genres for their own good. With a dash of Kabuki action, compliments from the kawaii Japanese front woman, Diskoboy’s music sounds good in theory only. Bet they will flare well as individual musicians, together they are dreadful. A mismatch unsynchronized incoherence band. The public have spoken as they make their great escape towards the other two smaller and quieter rooms.
After Diskoboy comes the light relief of Miss Vicky Butterfly – a risqué performer. Togged up in breath taking outfit, Miss Butterfly injected life and ooh-la-la into the ballroom, while dancing to the tinkling of a musicbox. Of course, minus the naughty bits with this I was sent to a dreamy state for 5 mins.
Here comes the fourth band. “Please sir, can I have some more?” “No! No! Please sir, can they have some more?” Blondelle is malnourished!!! Extremely distressed, I feared for them as they lifted up their instruments. These stick inserts take slender to another level. Due to their physique, I completely forgot their music. All I can say they are a non-descript indie band. Very bland! However, there’s a huge market for blandness and mediocrity. Blondelle might go far; maybe then they can afford a proper meal. (Please get yourselves big slaps of MEAT!!!)
Copious amount of white wine later, I’ve made it to the fifth band without self harming. Radar is alright, fine to say the least. Finally came Pete & The Pirates! Yippy! I had high expectations of Pete & The Pirates. They command the room with wistful, whimsical indie-pop rock infused tunes. The clock strikes ONE and I’m a pauper again. Princess… NOT… completely wrecked I am, going through the motion, standing still with my mind wondering, we decided to call it a night.
As far as entertainment goes, BE’s night is fun and filled with fabulous acts and a wide variety of ‘distractions’ catering to everyone. However, I ask myself, is it humanly possible to stand in a stunning ballroom surrounded by a trendy, well dressed crowd after six bands and still enjoy oneself? No! Soz! Not me! I recommend turning up relatively late, listen or attempt to enjoy 3 bands (max). Behold the performances by Miss Vicky Butterfly and her friends, watch a bit of frivolous video art and spent the rest of the evening shaking your posterior or as BE listed the night as unparalleled musical excellence and artistic debauchery, try to move like an android or not move at all or stand around endeavouring the task of looking pretty among the beautiful pack.
PS! Remember to dress UP!!! Dress code: Rock & Roll Glam Electro Chic