at The Flamin' galah last night
Don't need to go on about the venue, it's all been said before! I will, howver, mention the really good pint of Timothy Taylor's in the Slug and Lettuce we had before going to the Galah, and where we met up with Anne and Rick (45's).
So, to the band. Whatever! play the more indie/pop rock genre, so I was intrigued to see them, as that is Kingpin's area aswell.
You probably know most of the boys -
Aiden on guitar (WHATEVER! on here)
Asa on drums (Social Tornado on here)
Chris on throat (Hulkmania on here(!))
Mark on bass (sometimes uses the WHATEVER! persona.)
Good set-up on stage when we arrived, The 'WHATEVER!' logo on the bass drum setting it all off nicely, although the really cool 'WHATEVER!' banner that they got from some guy off here was missing, due to some twonk called Hulk leaving it in his car!
The band couldn't soundcheck until the match had finished, and I thought the sound was pretty good for a difficult venue (although someone did shout 'Get Off' at the end of it!), so they then went on pretty much straight away with the first set.
Like I said, good sound, you could hear everything and the tones were good: bass bright, but not too middley, cracking drum sound (especially snare), not overly loud guitar. The only real critisism I could offer was that the vocals were a little low in the mix, especially the backing, which I pointed out to them in the break.
Having kicked off with an Oasis number, the boys took us through Stereophonics, The Clash, The Black Crowes, Arctic Monkeys, Stone Roses, James and even Bad Company. They also did a storming version of 'Fight for Your Right' by The Beastie Boys!
Playing wise it was all so easy. Mark is a finger player and just walks his bass through the numbers with a little smile on his face. Aiden changes from rhythm to lead to phrases with consumate ease and Asa keeps them altogether without even breaking into a sweat. Chris may not have the greatest range in the world, but the songs are well picked to suit him and he keeps the crowd entertained!
Really cool set of guys - even Hulk, contrary to all you would have thought, dead easy to get on with and pleased to see every one.
Watching wise, good crowd for The Galah, probably 40-50, including (ofcourse) NWBers Rick and Anne (what can I say?), Darren (Love Rockets), Andy (Andy M) and your host Alyerpal. We also dragged my bro along as usual, plus Greg from Burly Chassis and my mate John, aswell as our lovely better halves for once with it being localish.
All in all, a very enjoyable night, all the crew i was with were very complimentary. I certainly wouldn't think twice about seeing WHATEVER! again.
So people, go and see them, venues, book them. You maybe like, yeah....whatever at the moment, but you won't be when you see them.
Alyerprobablygonnahavetohaveabreaknowpal