Posted on September 17, 2009 - by Editor

The Briggs + Strawberry Blondes + Middle Finger Salute

Barfly
Camden, London
Sunday 13th September 2009

The Briggs © Imelda Michalczyk

A small spattering of a crowd were inside the small upstairs North London venue. With guitars and drums eagerly awaiting on stage, the young four piece Middle Finger Salute open up the evenings proceedings and soon run into technical difficulties with the Bass amp going AWOL. The disruption at first is sniggered at by the enigmatic front man Calum, with the band threatening jokingly to kick the bassist out of the band.

The band continues to play whilst the bassist assisted by members of other bands tries to solve the technical problem. Despite the setback the band does play a good upbeat and punky set. The backing vocals and dual vocal attack deliver a lot of sound for the band and they are enthusiastic and positive despite the ongoing issues. The bassist Jonny eventually walks off stage to join the crowd before returning to join the band and take the lead guitar to crowd sing along “Middle Finger are Shit”, which the crowd warmly sings back to them (in a appreciative way!)

Welsh based Strawberry Blondes, with a much changed lineup, and I haven’t seen them play in about 18 months, attack

Mickie -Strawberry Blondes © Imelda Michalczyk

the stage next, with the crowd growing steadily. Front man Mickie is still enigmatic and a driving force but the band seem quite apprehensive and the new bassist lacks the energy and singing ability of the original now- departed bassist. There is at times a flat energy despite some of the songs offering real potential. Joey La Rocca from The Briggs joins them onstage on a recent collaboration due on the Blondes new album in October, but even his introduction does not get the crowd that involved or enthused.

The addition on the latter part of the set of the female (Emma) horns adds some diversity and a ska element. They do fall into the Rancid generic mould, and seem to be finding their feet with this transition lineup. In my opinion they could do with another guitar but I am intrigued by the new record.

American headliners The Briggs, have swelled the size of the crowd by the time of their set; late Sunday evening. They start off with “Charge Into The Sun” from their most recent record ‘Come All You Madmen’ and bring ample energy to the night. The band has a strong likability factor and remind me of bands like American Steel, The Loved Ones, Gaslight etc in that sense.

The Briggs © Imelda Michalczyk

There is natural interaction in the band between members, little looks and smiles that strongly hint at their enjoyment in playing onstage. They do vary the material they play but a lot is from their recent record;”Madmen”, “What Was I thinking”, “Ship Of Fools”; with the crowd singing along gleefully (myself included) at their positive energy and the atmosphere reflects that. The “5th” band member joins intermittently on songs often to add guitars or acoustic on songs like “Not Alone”, while the band thanks the fill-in Swedish drummer who learned all the songs in three days as their regular drummer had to go home for personal/family reasons.
They end the night with “this is LA” to a raucous sing along and despite the Sunday evening and small venue setting; it’s a fun night for all, with the Californians’ surely leaving no-one feeling short changed.

The Briggs © Imelda Michalczyk