On a dark and rainy Thursday night I ventured out to the Brass Monkey in Hastings to see a line up of three young bands. I thought I would just share some thoughts with you all and let you know that the youngsters of Hastings are carrying on the proud tradition of live music.
First up was the youngest band involved Cold Hearted. Playing mostly covers but with a couple of originals thrown in they were enthusiastic and showed a promising degree of raw talent. The more they play together the more their sound and repertoire will gain depth. The “front-man” was in fact the back man….the drummer, who I suspect was the youngest member of the quartet. In my view this is a difficult role to carry off and even experienced musicians such as Phil Collins have had difficulties filling both roles. However, Alfie gave this a good shot. I will be interested to see how this band develops as they move through more gigs and get some projected recording completed.
Next on The Bozos playing their first ever gig, but you wouldn’t have known it. Running through a set featuring covers and originals they sounded extremely tight and funky. Ben on bass and Jack on drums laid down a solid engine room, whilst Tom’s guitar work was excellent. All this and then the gutsy, bluesy voice of Grace. This looks like a combination that will attract a large following amongst the town’s youth scene. Highlight for me was their last number of the set Black Crow, which showed of all their musicianship and Grace’s blues based voice.
And so to the final band Cerebellum. As the name suggests quite a thoughtful sort of experience. They also ran through a range of originals and covers, which included one of my Radiohead favourites Creep. I was impressed by the high standard of musicianship on display and how rich and tight their sound was. Another band that i have never seen before but I will ensure that I catch up with again.
Congratulations to the Brass Monkey for continuing to promote and support young talent.