Friday, Payday, I was there, where were you鈥? The night kicked off with ASTRONAUT - Richard Austin is a one man band who blends mellow electric guitar and soothing vocals. This perhaps relaxed the crowd a little too much with people sat around comfortably chatting to their friends and sadly not giving Astronaut the attention he deserved. All this guy needs is a band to put some energy behind these beautifully written tracks. This is definitely music to kick-back and relax in the sun to. TESTTONE3 were next to the stage opening with 鈥淢echanical Sounds鈥.听 As always the set was packed with funky bass, acid synths, brutal drum loops and Adam鈥檚 amazing guitar tricks which simply leave your jaw on the floor. The vocoder fuelled 鈥淔unk You鈥 added a new dimension and saw them push the tempo up, up and through the roof!
 | | Astronaut (c) Andrew Stanistreet |
Since last watching them headline a gig back in November (see 鈥淒ukes of York Night鈥 review) the band have been approached by Hot House Productions, to have their killer track 鈥淕ettin鈥 Nasty鈥 used for Channel 4鈥檚 Ski & Snowboarding Championship 2006 and have also confirmed a place in Heat 6 of Battle of the Bands at Fibbers on March 15th 鈥 I strongly recommend you check them out. As always their closing track 鈥淭he Time is Now!鈥 ended to a rapturous applaud鈥 With the bar now heaving, I AM JACK took to the stage. Matthew James (Bass), Jan Minx (Drums), Ewan Fisher (Guitar) and Matt Langham (Vox/Guitar) launched into a blend of experimental drums, ghostly vocals and ambient guitar textures.听 Matt L鈥檚 tender vocals on the well known track 鈥淪tockholm鈥 were full of a raw emotion that left your heart aching.听Combined with some clever drum rhythms you have beautiful sounds that compliment such fully accomplished song writing.听
 | | TestTone3 (c) Andrew Stanistreet |
New tracks such as 鈥淪leepless鈥 and 鈥淏lue Sky, Clear Night, Flash of Light鈥 (quite a mouthful!) embraced the crowd, and as the last track 鈥淪.C.C鈥 came to a close the repeated shouts of encore only confirmed my own thoughts that this band deserved to go down a storm. So I decided to invade the dressing room and have a chat with them after their set. EJ:听 鈥淲ell done that was quite a performance.听How long have you been gigging听for?鈥 IAJ: 鈥淲e have been together as a band for 4 years and have been gigging for 3 and a half鈥. EJ:听 鈥淲ho have been your musical influences?鈥. IAJ: 鈥淛oy Division and Radiohead amongst others鈥 EJ:听 鈥淪o what was the last CD you bought?鈥 IAJ: 鈥淎lligator Dance International, Suzanne and the Magical Orchestra and Jose Gonzalez鈥. EJ:听 鈥淎nd what are your plans for the future?鈥 IAJ: 鈥淢ore gigs in the North Yorkshire region and also a gig in London in April at Borderline for the 'Queen in Dead' night鈥. On that note my work was complete 鈥 now all I had to do was enjoy the club night鈥 But that鈥檚 another story鈥 Emma Jackson | 
