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Review in Durham 21 by CHRIS PRIOR

"SHOULD EVERYONE CARE ABOUT YOUR NEW NIGHT?

While the conflation of historical rhetoric and modern reality tends to be a dangerous business, the claim made by Harold Macmillan in 1957 that we have ‘never had it so good’ is, at long last, apposite when it comes to the modern music scene in our city. After the end of Paste and other decent nights in a steam-driven Durham of long ago, with the recent coming to prominence of events such as Beat Surrender, Full Collapse, and No One Cares About Your DJ Night, and the bigger, less specialist world of Tuesday night in Studio, alongside the continued success of Ic(h)Bin, the alternative music fan now has more doing than he or she can shake an immaculately sculpted fringe at. So, what to say to Shot By Both Sides, a new night courtesy of omnipresent alternative boys Chris Lever and Dan Turner, which added its cocky little voice to the noisy multitude at the Fishtank last Saturday?

DANCING ON THE DOCTOR'S ORDERS

The signs were good by the very choice of venue. The Fishtank is a brilliant little place, small and run by friendly people who sell you drinks in cans, and, if nothing else, it’s a matter of no little importance that places like this successfully exist in the face of bars that pose as authentically Antipodean, despite their celebration of Aboriginal art flying in the face of the reality of a segregated Down Under. The venue’s celebration of difference was compounded by Shot By Both Sides. First up at was Dancing On The Doctor, the work of Durham student Ollie Powell. The majority of DOTD’s set consisted of a solitary Powell on guitar playing along to a pre-recorded backing track. Some of the moments were so charming that it would be interesting to see if they could be replicated by a whole band to give it a fuller and more responsive feel onstage. However, the most interesting piece of the set took the nature of being a single person onstage and turned this into a positive boon. Here, Powell sampled himself as he played to create increasingly complex loops of rhythm and melody, firstly slapping strings to establish a rudimentary drumbeat before going on to pluck cascading arpeggios that spiralled onward. This all had the effect of creating a beautiful little post-rock world that most seemed rather sad to have to leave. A few more shows, a little more confidence and Dancing On The Doctor’s going to be a joy to behold.

LOTS OF BASHING

Headliners The Tendrils were far removed from this pretty little world. Theirs is a sound that relies on the same sort of punk-ish attack as Mclusky, and this is a thing their parents should be proud of. The frontman and guitarist (who goes by the name of Euro Disney, if their wonderfully spurious Myspace descriptions are anything to go by) thrashes himself about the stage like he’s engaged in all sorts of demonic kerfuffle. The rhythm section seem happy to play second fiddle to this, concentrating on playing and looking like extras in a metal video. From a niftly little instrumental start to the set, things became monotonous and a little predictable in the middle, but it all swelled to a truly impressive ending, a deftly organised clatter of thunking bass, crashing cymbals and appropriately squealing feedback. With a handsome little chaos of a conclusion to the evening, The Tendrils made it two highly enjoyable acts out of two, while Shot By Both Sides more than justified its place in a packed indie calendar."

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