It’s always good to see a decent size crowd gather before anyone’s taken to the stage, especially considering how hot and sweaty the room was going to get in this heat, and with Paint the Dark starting the evening they put in a decent set with the highlights being when keyboards and extra drums were added to their rather pleasant indie by numbers sounds.
Glasgow-based PAWS livened up proceedings as they gave the night a heavier side to reflect on, with an element of nostalgia creeping in as live they sounded more influenced by the Seattle Grunge Scene of the 1990’s than they necessarily do when listening to them on record.
There are times though when you don’t mind bands wearing their heart on their sleeve, although it wasn’t anything new PAWS played music they love, and it was lyrical content of all things loved and lost that were the subject of several of the bands songs. Wasted trips from Scotland to London to meet a girl, only to be stood up, may sound like teenage angst but with the words being spouted with as much anger as they were no doubt written surely it means the trip wasn’t a complete disaster.
Many of the tracks by PAWS would be kept to the point as they came to an abrupt ending, with the almost obligatory tip of the hat to the headliners in between, to then be followed by another song filled with a verbal attack and raw garage rock. There were also the tunes that would descend into a Dinosaur Jr induced noise-fest with the band rocking out, which along with a couple of new numbers they soon started to get noticed by the sold out Wedge.
Indie rockers We Are Scientists had performed an acoustic set elsewhere earlier in the evening, and by all accounts had carried on partying
since, as it was only one song in when the on stage banter started with Keith Murray being picked on for not tying his shoelaces properly.
Although the band are renowned for some on stage antics, there was however just a little too much, which distracted away from the fact as a live act they have a number of great tunes. Songs such as ‘Dinosaur’ being played early on got the audience excited but then the gig would continue to be very stop/start as bass player Chris Cain took time out to down another bottle of wine, whilst it was tracks from the bands 2005 album With Love and Squalor that gave the evening it’s sing a long moments.
The drinking didn’t get in the way of ‘Nobody Move, Nobody Gets Hurt’ or ‘The Great Escape’ from the aforementioned album sounding epic, and despite too much chat We Are Scientists took time out to help promote that the evening was also part of a fundraising event for Portsmouth Football Club, although I’m not so sure that their idea of the teams kit next season comprising of capes and fangs will become standard practice in the sporting world.
