The Broken Tops - Fibbers - 31/05/08

The Broken Tops - Fibbers - 31/05/08

If you were to walk with me into Fibbers last Saturday night I’d forgive you for thinking that you’d accidentally stumbled in on a wake commemorating the parting of a loved one rather than the renowned live music venue.

After considering my options (originally to leave pretty sharpish), the first support act, The Broken Tops, appeared, ready to fill this cavernous space with as much musical funk as they could summon. The York-based quintet, inspired by Rage Against the Machine and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, managed to, against all the odds, get the puny crowd tapping their feet. ‘Judge Me, Judge You’ was one of the highlights of their set, forcing weighty drums and guitar riffs down the throats of a reluctant audience. The Beatles cover of ‘Come Together’ was their best songs of the night – a tad unfortunate that it’s not actually their own!

All told however, they did suffer from a lack of inspired musical direction. The ensuing musical mis-match - to which the band refer to as “messy funk” – lead the front man, Andrew Brandon, to be often overpowered by his fellow band members, something especially apparent during ‘Medicine Man’ and ‘Russian Roulette’.

The ‘messy funk’ of The Broken Tops all too quickly gave way to Ninety Eight Pages, a York three-piece with eclectic sounds harking back to the hard rock of AC/DC with a sprinkling of the Indie Pop of Razorlight. This interesting synthesis of Indie- Rock also corresponded with a much-welcomed surge in the crowd. But un-inspiring vocals and all too generic guitar riffs meant that although the audience had picked up in number, interest in the music had not. ‘Pages, despite the merits of ‘Stay a While’ and ‘Arse Song’ all-too-quickly became background music; much like a bedtime novel, which rather than gripping you to the Ninety-Eighth page, you give up at the first.

After the contrast of the two support groups, it felt like a much-needed reprieve when Undergrass finally came to head the stage. Now, as the main act of the night, one deserves certain qualities from a band. Here Undergrass ticked some crucial boxes. Yes, they were – musically speaking - the ‘tightest’ band of the night. Yes, they were musically and vocally well-rounded (reputedly practising in marathon-long seven-hour sessions), and Yes, they had a selection of versatile songs. But, and this is a big ‘But’, the overall impression Undergrass gave was that of being the third support act, perhaps paving way for something brighter and better, which, sadly, never transpired.

Saying this, there was some musical gold which can be carefully panned from their performance. ‘Hit Me’ was undoubtedly the best song of the night – out of all the bands’ offerings – sporting haunting lyrics and sporadic guitar riffs. Rob Lumby, on lead guitar, certainly displayed talent here, while the song also showcased lead singer, Phil Goodrick, at his best. Continuing the ‘rock-funk’(allegedly the theme of the evening), the Stone Roses and Metallica inspired ‘Gypo Dave’ resoundingly showed how great Undergrass could be, and that their seven-hour sessions hadn’t gone to waste. These were definitely jewels in the evening’s crown; Undergrass showed they could be tight and musically adept.

Yet, ultimately, Undergrass suffered from an inferiority complex, as if they were naturally a small-time act who had been propelled into the relative stardom of fibbers a little too fast.

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