INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW - DAY 3 (THURSDAY)

GIG: International Pop Overthrow
DATE: Thursday 14th May 2015
VENUE: The Cavern Pub and Club
COST: £4 after 8pm in the Club
OUR VERDICT: A bit of Wylde Mod and Ska

This blog is intended to be a way for us to capture our personal memories from all the gigs we go to see. The International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool hosts around 140 artists, across 3 stages, ranging from solo acts with an acoustic guitar to full on rock bands covering different music styles from folk, pop, rock and everything in between!!!! Some we like, some we love, some are pure nuggets and some are just not our cup of tea. This is just our personal opinion of the acts we see through the IPO festival, highlights and lowlights included. If there’s a band we are not fond of, do still check them out as tastes differ and you could have a different opinion from us.


Bands seen today = 9
The Remington, Betamotion, The Herron Brothers, Thee Wylde Fuzz Show (twice), The Reflections, Watchtower (twice), Donkey Hot Pink, The Backlash, RAF

Number of bands seen in the IPO so far = 27

CDs: 
Thee Wylde Fuzz Show Single, Betamotion.



The Remington ( in The Club)
Day number 3……kicked off for us with the second act on the bill, from Italy The Remington. The programme says this band is a quintet, but today we got a trio. Their songs were very good, and the lead singer sounded a bit like John Hiatt at times, and was also a great guitar player. The drumming was colourful, with the drummer giving it some serious welly behind the kit and every song sounding different. As a trio they were great, and we wonder what the five piece would sound like. 

After completing their playlist, they still had some spare time so we got an impromptu Woody Guthrie cover. We had considered getting their CD, but at £10 felt it a bit overpriced. We did also catch the tail end of their next slot over in the Cavern Club.


Betamotion
Betamotion are a trio and this was a “filler” for us. We were actually pleasantly surprised with them. Their set started with some pre-recorded voice-overs at the start of the first few songs which we initially thought “oh oh” but each song had a great beat to it and each took twists and turns  and sometimes was mashed with bits of well-known hits, such as Bowie’s “All The Young Dudes”, The Doors “Light My Fire” and “Eleanor Rigby”. The guy on lead vocal was extremely  strong with a terrific range and they did sound great.


The Herron Brothers
Derby boys, The Herron Brothers were up next. This duo sound very like Crowded House, with two vocals blended together over two acoustic guitars. It was nice to see Fun of The Pier singing along too. Their set appeared to be fairly spontaneous, and they were up against a rather noisy pub crowd this evening. Hats off to their unique re-marketing idea for their album (recorded 4 years ago) – Marmite Jars containing a USB stick with the album on it.

Thee Wylde Fuzz Show features Jonny who has appeared at previous IPO’s with his old band The Ace. This new band is a mix of psychedelic, mod and garage. We saw both of their sets today, each was different apart from the two common songs that make up their CD single and was a mix of original material and a few covers, but these were mostly obscure and they fit in with the band’s sound seamlessly. 
Thee Wylde Fuzz in The Cavern Pub

Thee Wylde Fuzz Show rock the Cavern
With two Rickenbackers in the line-up, you know you are going to get a jingle and a loud set. Their first set kicked off with a cover of “Shakin’ All Over” and continued at a frenetic pace. The drummer was very good, providing a great rolling beat. 

There must have been some consumption of energy drinks between the end of their first show and the start of the second because the second one started where the last one left off……high octane, high energy which really put the W into Wylde. The band powered through the second set, and Jonny literally threw himself around the Cavern Stage. A great debut for this band at the IPO, who incidentally have the youngest Bass player in the festival at the tender age of just 13!.
Our friend Kerri, her Thee Wylde Fuzz CD and the Band after the show

The Reflections
The Reflections, a band who have appeared at many IPOs have developed over the last couple of years and are more psychedelic and rockier now than in the past. The lead singer is more animated, and the keyboard adds to that 60’s psychedelic sound.

A stand out song tonight for us was “Girl I Used To Know” which had a strong vocal and a neat little lead guitar solo. A new song was included tonight, “New Shoes” which had a bit of a “Pipeline” guitar and drum feel to it and it sounded just fine. Unfortunately the back stage seemed to be running a bit late so their set was cut a little short, ending on the title track of their EP “Haunted House”, which finished with an eerie “whhoooo” in true ghost style from the lead guitarist.

Another filler for us was local Liverpudlian band Watchtower and boy are we glad we saw them, so much so, that we also saw their last ever gig across the road in the Pub later on. 

Watchtower
A quartet of young local lads, this was their last night together as a band so it was quite poignant (and emotional) for them to be playing the Cavern stage. This band is a bunch of real characters, and Jackson the lead guitarist really stood out as a fun, mad, (in the nicest sense) kind of guy. He was as flexible as a pipe cleaner, bending this way and that, pogoing around the stage and had the most amazing facial expressions. A mixture of Slade's Dave Hill, and Wilko Johnson. He was also a rather good air drummer too! 

We really enjoyed the Bass player’s song about having a job you hate – it had a great ska melody with a bit of “whoo hoo, ha ha ha” as the chorus. He was also a very good bass player and jumped, danced and moved around the stage just like the two guitarists. 

For both performances they had a great crowd in, which left little room to move, and we have to say their ska influenced rhythm and general overall synergy and stage presence was a winner for us. This is the first band of this year’s IPO that have had an encore, and they did a sensational version of Led Zep’s “Whole Lotta Love” which was very true to the record and sounded pure brilliant. Their pub set was pretty much the same (without the Led Zep song) and their final song was a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B Goode” which had the whole pub jumping and  thumping. What a way to end.

Donkey Hot Pink, from Spain had command of the Back Stage and we were not overly impressed with this band from Southern Spain. They just didn’t do it for us. To each their own though.

We caught part of the set from Italian band The Backlash and gave up after two songs as what we got was an Oasis tribute act. They did provide two of the funniest moments mind you. The band started playing, and we thought someone had taken a wrong turn and had wandered on-stage by mistake. It was in fact the singer, who we reckon was waiting for the big audience cheer that didn't happen. Then we witnessed a first at the IPO. They finished the first song to a deafening silence.

RAF
Our final band for the night was all the way from Portland, Oregon, a MOD outfit called RAF. All suited and booted, this band was a cross between The Who and The Ramones, and gave us 30 minutes of high powered, brilliant Mod Punk Rock. 

They played original material which actually, would not be out of place on a compilation of 60’s Mod, and did only one cover, their final song, The Kinks’ “David Watts”. 

This is another group whose professionalism shines through, playing a tight set. We did enjoy seeing this band but it is unfortunate that the lead singer looked a bit like Nigel Farage!!!
RAF




Until tomorrow guys and gals ……..

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