Soundhole, 23rd January 2010.

Here at Havoc Reviews (we don't actually have a specific location) we don't just go and see big or upcoming bands. No, we like to support our locals too and local to us is a gig called Soundhole. It features half a dozen bands from the surrounding area and although it's only a small event, we have a good time.

I won't be comparing these bands to actual professionals so the marks out of 100 you see here are based completely on Soundhole.

Let's start with the venue. Based at High Halstow village hall, it is really a rather small venue and sadly it's only about a quarter full tonight. So the roof may be missing some tiles, the walls are a bare white and those 'school cafeteria tables' are set out the back with Monster Munch and Magic Stars piled up for us all to munch on. Now, I quite like Magic Stars so I'm not going to complain about this. What I'm trying to say is that it may not be a venue with character but it's decent enough. 5/10.

First up then is a girl named Emma Holbrook. I commend her for getting up on stage in front of a crowd who are more worried about socialising than actually listening to her music. There were some who paid attention though and I was one of them. She switched between a guitar and ukulele (the latter amused both Gemma and I) and she played them both well. In terms of her vocal style we drew a comparison with Kate Nash, with the exception of her having a good old Kent accent. Overall, a very good set. 68/100. http://www.myspace.com/emmaholbrook1

Next up was Luke Paul Jackson. We've seen him before and he played just as well as last time. He even pulled out of nowhere a cover of Crazy by Gnarls Barkley as well as a combination medley of Kings of Leon songs; Sex on Fire and Use Somebody, both of which were surprisingly extremely excellent. A good singer and a set well done. 70/100. http://www.myspace.com/lukepauljackson


Onto the bands. The first band of the night were named Stacey and the Freeloaders so I was just a little bit confused about the fact that not one member of the band looked like a 'Stacey' due to the fact that every member of the band was male. This was all cleared up though when it was announced that Stacey was the guitarist... As far as I can remember the music was ok, a little average but the vocals didn't work. 40/100. http://www.myspace.com/staceyandthefreeloaders

Following them were Four Day Story. Now, I don't want to be mean but they really weren't my cup of tea. At all. On a more positive note, I've never seen a boy with shinier hair. 30/100. http://www.myspace.com/fourdaystory

So finally a band I liked: 10 to 7. They seemed to have some fans/friends in the crowd so they were a bit more interactive and they were the first people on stage who actually appeared to be having a good time. The guitarist broke a string after only one or two songs and so disappeared back stage, leaving his bandmates to entertain the audience, which they did with a well played cover song. The first band to put a smile on my face so they get 65/100.

Onto the penultimate band, Ultimatum. Another acoustic set, Gemma liked them more than I did but they weren't that bad. They could all sing well and they had a harmonica which bumps up their score a bit, even though it was only in one song for about two seconds. 55/100.

And so we have reached the final band. A Three Sided Square seemed to enjoy playing, it's just a shame that nobody else did. By this point, half of the 70 or so people had already left and we only stuck around to finish off the night. 32/100. http://www.myspace.com/athreesidedsquare


NOTE; Gemma's ratings;
Venue: 5/10
Emma Holbrook: 65/100
Luke Paul Jackson: 73/100
Stacey and the Freeloaders: 35/100
Four Day Story: 40/100
10 to 7 65/100
Ultimatum: 55/100
A Three Sided Square: 40/100