Pandamonium!!!
5th January 2009
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OH SWEET HOLY POTATOES! IT'S THE RETURN OF...
PANDAMONIUM!!!
THE VIBE: fifteen(ish) hotly indierockin' new bands play across five nights smack bang at the start of 2009 to launch the fifteenth birthday celebrations for fierce panda records. Some of those bands are called Hatcham Social, The Ruling Class, Kasms, The Molotovs, Popular Workshop, Prego and Derek Meins.
THE DATES: January 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th 2009
THE VENUES: Old Blue Last, Dublin Castle, 229, The Borderline, The Wilmington Arms
THE HOSTS: fierce panda & Club Fandango (and friends)
THE BACKSTORY: In January 1999 fierce panda records hosted the inaugural Pandamonium event. Bored senseless by the traditional post-Christmas lull when breakfast is turkey cornflakes and the Black Magic chocolates have all magically disappeared the panda crew took it upon themselves to save the indie nation by putting on five nights' worth of poprock action at the Bull & Gate in the very first full week of the very new year. Eager kids flocked from yards around, making all five shows a complete sellout, and if memory serves us correctly some young bucks called Coldplay opened up on one of the gigs. It was that kind of event.
Now, precisely ten years on from that opening salvo in Kentish Town the fierce panda crew, ably assisted by the Club Fandango landlubbers, will be endeavouring to relive that glorious past by putting on fifteen(ish) thrillingly new bands over five nights in wintery London Town. The aim is to kick all those facile new years resolutions straight into touch - retox, not detox! - by blasting the system with several large doses of melodic chaos administered by some of the smartest up-and-coming combos around. And those combos look something like this...
MONDAY JANUARY 5TH: OLD BLUE LAST, SHOREDITCH cool for cats presents
DEREK MEINS + MY TIGER MY TIMING + THE ABC CLUB + special guests THE MOLOTOVS (free entry)
+ DJs COOL FOR CATS + 18 CARAT LOVE AFFAIR
age restriction 18+
TUESDAY JANUARY 6TH: DUBLIN CASTLE, CAMDEN club panda presents
THE RULING CLASS + STRANGEWAYS + CAPITAL + ARTHUR (admission £5.00 advance)
age restriction 18+
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7TH: 229, GREAT PORTLAND STREET rocksound and club fandango present
PREGO + THE COMPUTERS + TO THE BONES + special guests ZEN ARCADE (adm £6.00)
age restriction 16+
THURSDAY JANUARY 8TH: BORDERLINE, CHARING CROSS ROAD club fandango
HATCHAM SOCIAL + KASMs + SUNDERBANS (admission £6.00 advance)
age restriction 14+ (14 / 15 year olds need to be accompanied by adults)
FRIDAY JANUARY 9TH: THE WILMINGTON ARMS, FARRINGDON club fandango presents
POPULAR WORKSHOP + THE KABEEDIES + DYNAMO GARAGE (admission £5.00)
age restriction 18+
"fifteenage kicks right through the night"
PANDAMONIUM: THE BANDS
***** MONDAY JANUARY 5TH 2009: OLD BLUE LAST, SHOREDITCH cool for cats presents
DEREK MEINS + MY TIGER MY TIMING + THE ABC CLUB + special guests THE MOLOTOVS
+ DJ sets from Cool For Cats & 18 Carat Love Affair (doors 8.00pm / free entry)
10.45pm DEREK MEINS used to be a young man in Eastern Lane and now as a slightly older man plays raunchily intelligent rock'unt'roll with a thrust and a howl. There is a howlingly thrusting mini-album entitled 'The Famous Poet' which is out now on 1965 Records. www.myspace.com/derekmeins
10.00pm MY TIGER MY TIMING are part of the great rock'n'roll spindle scene which we just made up, delivering skinny-hipped tunes which are both upbeat and stripped down at the same time. The crafty quartet are also a little bit Tom Tom Club and a lot like something immensely likeable. www.myspace.com/mytigermytiming
9.15pm THE ABC CLUB are from the Republic of Yorkshire and mix together the prettiest of guitars with the most recherche of femme fatale-istic vocals. Lovers of the modern day Rough Trade sound will beam their little ears off, not least during a song entitled 'Tinkering Teacups'. www.myspace.com/wearetheabcclub
8.30pm THE MOLOTOVS are special guest openers who mix in a veritable - waitforitwaitforitwait.for.it - cocktail of musical styles to bring together the ramshackle charm of French barroom muzak with clipped English pop sensibilities in a decidedly life-affirming manner. Cast an ear to their 'Flowers' single on Cool For Cats (your hostess for the evening) for proof we speak the truth. www.myspace.com/themolotovs
***** TUESDAY JANUARY 6TH 2009: DUBLIN CASTLE, CAMDEN club panda presents
THE RULING CLASS + STRANGEWAYS + CAPITAL + ARTHUR (doors 7.45pm / £5.00 advance)
10.15pm THE RULING CLASS model some quite excellent indie fringes, which is hardly surprising when you consider that 1989 / 1990 is their dream musical era when Ride, Stone Roses and Field Mice roamed the earth. Expect their 'Marian Shrine' single to be released on Loog in March. www.myspace.com/therulingclassuk
9.30pm STRANGEWAYS are six predominantly Northern young men who took their ragbag of underground styles and punkoid dual vocal attack to the major label masses a couple of years ago and walked away with a (still yet-to-released) Stephen Street-produced album. Now armed with a new name and a fresh musical outlook this show is the start of the Strangeways story. www.myspace.com/ilovestrangeways
8.45pm CAPITAL peddle a heady brand of lush, lovingly-made synthguitarpop which nods at The Cure and Tears For Fears whilst reaching for the stars. Expect a mini-album in March. www.myspace.com/capitalmyspace
8.00pm ARTHUR are three boys and two girls who play spiky, sophisticated indierock with an intelligence and an off-kilter ambition which bridges the wee gap between Los Campesinos! and Death Cab. www.myspace.com/arthurtheband
***** WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7TH: THE 229, GREAT PORTLAND STREET rocksound / club fandango present
PREGO + THE COMPUTERS + TO THE BONES + special guests ZEN ARCADE (doors 8.00pm. £6.00 advance)
10.30pm PREGO make big cuddly emotional rock which makes people think of Elbow and Six by Seven. Think heartfelt choruses, rousing chord changes and cheekily morose melodies, as evinced by recent single ‘Answers’. www.myspace.com/pregomusic
9.45pm THE COMPUTERS make snappy, snotty punk rock noises which bite first and ask questions later. Their ‘You Can’t Hide From The Computers’ mini-album (fierce panda) has been whizzing up attention and their uniform red shirts will have Rocket From The Crypt lovers swooning. www.myspace.com/thecomputersfromexeter
9.00pm TO THE BONES make a primitive, punishing post-grunge rock racket on their ‘Duke Type A’ album which has been hoovering up perky comparisons with Pixies and QOTSA. “One two! One two! F*** you!” shout the Bolton boys. Indeed. www.myspace.com/tothebones
8.15pm ZEN ARCADE are special guest openers this evening and they will be mining a deep seam of epic black-hearted rock which is seductively structured and sonically desolate and represents a right old hatful of wallow. www.myspace.com/zenarcademuzik
***** THURSDAY JANUARY 8TH 2009: LONDON BORDERLINE, CHARING CROSS ROAD club fandango presents
HATCHAM SOCIAL + KASMs + SUNDERBANS (doors 8.00pm / admission £6.00 advance)
9.45pm HATCHAM SOCIAL have been described by some people in the know as being the last great indie band left on the underground, and for sure these are three young gentlemen with an eye for a warm cardigan and an ear for a rattlingly fine pop tune. Tonight’s special headline slot points the way towards the release of their debut album, ‘You Dig The Tunnel, I’ll Hide The Soil’, due out on March 9th. www.myspace.com/hatchamsocial
9.00pm KASMs are following in the creepy steps of Siouxsie and Polly Jean by creating dark, tortured soundscapes. The Dalston quartet recently proved their spiky case with the ‘Taxidermy’ single and get bonus fandango points for having a guitarist called Scott R Walker. www.myspace.com/kasms
8.15pm SUNDERBANS are a mildly malevolent wee trio who play intelligent, intense folk pop which is a little bit morose and a little bit distressed and, on ‘Save Our Sunderbans’, a little bit lovely. www.myspace.com/sunderbans
***** FRIDAY JANUARY 9TH 2009: THE WILMINGTON ARMS, FARRINGDON club fandango presents
POPULAR WORKSHOP + THE KABEEDIES + DYNAMO GARAGE (doors 8.00pm / £5.00 advance)
10.15pm POPULAR WORKSHOP are a ramshackle collective who indulge in rickety Fall-esque fumblings which magically lurch into lovely big choruses, like on their recent terrific ‘Reptilians’ single. There’s an album too, ‘We’re Alive And We’re Not Alone’ (This Is Fake DIY), which floats our bloody boat. www.myspace.com/popularworkshop
9.30pm THE KABEEDIES are a disarmingly youthful bunch of indie sprites busting out of Norwich with a collection of fizzbombing pop nuggets which has had various Radio 1 DJs weeping with on air joy, not least with most recent singular release ‘Treasure Hunting’ (Cool For Cats). www.myspace.com/thekabeedies
8.45pm DYNAMO GARAGE consist of five raffish young men from North London who make considered - and indeed considerate - guitar-based noises which are subtle and spacious and thoroughly twinkly. www.myspace.com/dynamogarage
