The Deads + Ipanema + The Gents + Chief - Messclean @ The Frog On The Front. 13/01/06.

Chief is front man Nik Karlberg of indie rockers Silicon Sun in his new solo guise, a man with an air of mystery and higher planes about him who looks like he does a lot of deep soul searching. Tonight is a gentle acoustic affair that in typical fashion is lost beneath a wave of chatter and bar noise, the opening notes a lilting oriental instrumental that sounds lovely from where I'm standing. He proceeds to strum some gentle tunes complimented by his strong voice but he battles to maintain the audiences interest, not because he is bad but because it is not immediate enough and people don't want to have to concentrate which is a shame as it would appear they are missing out on some decent tunes and fascinating lyrics. Perhaps a smaller venue would be more suitable next time or a dedicated acoustic evening where Chief will get the attention he deserves.

Some bands just deserve a good slagging off and I try not to do it but The Gents are pretty awful and you can almost hear the groans reverberate off the walls as another band cover Oasis and deliver piss weak indie. In their favour they are young and may yet see the error of their ways and while the energetic vocalist tries to ham it up with some attitude you just end up thinking 'twat' and going back to the bar. I really do hate putting bands down but you really do wonder how some bands come out of their rehearsal room thinking they are good!

No such problems for Ipanema who sort out the men from the boys, containing Wiz and Gerry who spent some time assaulting the venues around the UK in Mega City Four. The experience shows as the trio plug in and a big lush guitar sound hits us, dark indie rock dripping with bittersweet melodies and a throbbing pulse. They must wonder what they are doing here really, having to follow The Gents but they do not let that deter them as they rip through a fast paced set of impressive tunes that easily live up to the recent release on Boss Tuneage that has turned a few heads. It always amazes me that some bands have such problems down the Frog with sound, not being a technical person it all floats over me, but then along comes a band who know what they are doing, don't complain just plug in and sound massive. I was hoping a few more faces would turn up for this gig as they really missed a treat, it's not often you get a band of this quality in such a small venue and you kind of think that if they were a new band without all the history they would be filling the Wedgewood Rooms easily by now with the press fighting to get hold of them but alas, it is just us lucky few that have the delight of catching a band that are on fire in a live situation. If you like powerful indie rock, slightly on the dark side but with plenty of melody and passion then I strongly recommend Ipanema, the mini album is impressive but at a gig is where you really need to see them, you won't regret it.

To follow on from such a good band is a big task and The Deads have a damn good go at letting rip with their beat infected rock. They too suffered the curse of technical problems as their sax could not be heard and I've seen them do better gigs where they feed off positive audiences but tonight they are having an uphill struggle as the vocalist looks like he is having a 50,000 volt fit on the stage before swearing at the audience and rolling around on the floor in front of the stage. It is quite a sight and highly unlikely to get anyone right down the front unless they are mad or totally under the influence but it all adds to The Deads experience. Tonight it doesn't happen for them but on their day they can an electrifying band, roll on the next gig