Ortega @ Barfly
22 June 08
Ortega / MY EMERGENCY! / Kyoto Drive / Showdown City @ Barfly [220608]
Just back from the Ortega show or, as I am now thinking of it, That Show By My New Favourite Band (This Week). Their tagline is the British answer to Fall Out Boy, which, you know. Is always worth a look. But they seem to have stolen this guy from a hxc band as well, who plays the keyboards/extra guitar, and screams like a champ, running about the stage, swinging the mic etc. It’s awesomlarious, & really sold me on their performance aspects. Plus, they collectively had some quite fantastic hair. This blog is all about the hair.
Moving on from the hair, Ortega’s music itself is Really Quite Good. Check out the link below for tracks; they’ve got hooks, surprisingly good lyrics, and [imho] a great drummer. I’m not greatly knowledgeable on Actual Music Prowess but I think there’s great potential and enjoyed the hell out of their set – as do their Cannock fanbase who were loyal enough to follow them to Birmingham. On a Sunday. The lead singer – all of the band – seem to really fucking love what they’re doing, so hopefully they’ll carry on. Am definitely seeing them next time they’re in town [July 30, at Carling Academy, as it happens].
The support bands : I only caught the last song for the first act, Showdown City, but I liked the singer’s stage performance: it’s rubbish being first on the bill, so I appreciate anyone who doesn’t just phone it in, you know? They were musically raw and seemed awkwardly positioned on-stage; at first I thought perhaps this was because the Barfly is tiny, but Ortega had, at one point, seven guys on and still managed to move, so. idk. But, yeah, they could definitely have something, even if it was all very baby!Paramore in an entirely guilty-pleasure sort of way.
Kyoto Drive were quite stiff until the middle of their set, and then they appeared to get more into it – and, in turn, so did the crowd. One of their guitarists did a lot of leaping and wandering and jumping, which is frankly requisite for any sort of Music Fun Time, and he leant a lot of energy to the others by the end of the set. It’ll be interesting to see where they are in 12 months or so.
MY EMERGENCY! were ace, I really liked them. They’d clearly had more experience [I mean, the billing shows that really *shrug*] and the frontman is a natural – as I said above, Sunday crowds kind of suck, but he was getting people into it, & I was impressed. He climbed over the barrier and wandered in the crowd for a bit, too, which is always fun and I had a Hotel Café flashback. My favourite song of theirs was… Happy Ending maybe? and [that other one, possible New Low]. I’d like to see them in a different venue, or even on a different night back at the Barfly.
[I must say that, although I keep mentioning it was a Sunday and therefore the crowd was kind of .standing-around-and-drinking, it was altogether a really enjoyable evenink. Can you say that about gigs? I feel there should be some scones involved for that sort of sentiment; it doesn't really exude punkrock. Whatevs. I'm adorable.]
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