Volume Control: Pretty Child Backfire with support from Lost Avenue & Hologram
1st September 2012 – Oh Yeah Centre, Belfast
Hailing from Derry and kicking off tonight’s all ages event is a very young, yet very talented three piece punk rock band, known as Lost Avenue. Opening their set with ‘Endless’ – the stage immediately begins to come alive with thrashing drum beats from drummer Michael Brown, thrashing bass lines from Bassist Jack Buchanan all working in tandem as vocalist/guitarist Dylan Bradley screams down the microphone. This seems to amaze the young crowd that have gathered, especially as Dylan is blessed with a surprisingly Kurt Cobain like voice. The band is obviously heavily influenced by Nirvana (especially their very early material) but there is also a hint of Babyshambles in the airwaves. A small mosh pit surrounds the front of the stage as the band continues to draw the young punters in with their catchy riffs and professional stage presence. As the boys begin to close their set with ‘Ethanol’ – a song from the EP of the same name, they seem to squeeze out every ounce of energy left in them for tonight and put their all into this old fashioned 1950s sounding rock n’ roll song with a punk twist. It certainly gets the young’uns moving around the small mosh pit. These boys may have a quite a few years left in school yet but they are most certainly born to rock.
Next up tonight is Hologram, a four piece alternative band from Belfast. Beginning their set with an uplifting General fiasco meets Duke Special sound, the young music lovers continues to grow around the front of the stage, swaying and singing along to songs such as ‘I’ll be Listening’ – a slower song that shows off vocalist/pianist Paul’s flawless vocals while the heavy bass chorus line allows bassist Pete to show off his talent too. The band’s new single ‘Touch and Go’ closes the set and the upbeat tempo of the song goes down exceptionally well with the growing crowd. The heavy drumbeat from drummer Michael and airy guitar riffs from guitarist Adam allows them to bust a few a moves to this song leaving them impressed yet excited for the next act.
Lastly, exploding onto the stage is PrettyChildBackfire – a four piece indie band from Belfast, who obviously have quite a fan base built up already as the young gig goers form an impressive mosh pit in front of the stage. They begin their energetic performance with a salad of immense drumbeats, interesting indie guitar riffs, and heavy bass lines – which all goes toward creating a sound resembling that of Northern Ireland’s very own General Fiasco. Guitarist/Vocalist Mark sets down his electric guitar to treat the young goers to a very special acoustic performance of ‘I wish I knew you better’ which has the punters sing and sway along to the catchy chorus and shows off Marks vocal range nicely; clearly this is the fan favourite tonight. As the band draw their fantastic set to a close with ‘All the things said in the twilight’ – a song which almost has a ‘Kings of Leon’ swagger about it, the young crowd show their appreciation by singing louder to every word and lapping up every second of the performance. On tonight’s evidence it’s clear why this upcoming local indie band bagged a slot at this year’s Glasgowbury festival.
