Featuring
The Pounding
Organic Machine
Union Bar, Hillhead
26/09/11
So here we had the first of what will hopefully be many free gigs at the newly christened Union Bar at Hillhead halls (The Watering Hole as it was once known). It’s a small venue but the sound is decent enough and the drinks prices are good, so look out for more gigs in the future!
The gig was a tripe header, headlined by a band from the Caribbean called Jointpop, more on whom later. First up though were local band Organic Machine. A 2 piece, they were a decent warm up act with their largely acoustic approach going down well with those who were there early enough to catch them. They’re young and rough, but there’s certainly promise there.
Next up we had The Pounding, also from Aberdeen. Another 2 piece, these guys proclaimed that they had “travelled through space and time to rock you” to the crowd, before ploughing straight in to their electro tinged rock with a heavy and dark dance underbeat. At times they assailed us with a double guitar assault and at other times beat us into submission with keyboard and a driving beat from the drum machine. They lurched from the dark recesses of electronic rock in the vein of Nine Inch Nails to sounding at times like Friendly Fires meets Justice. They even threw in a touch of the wild west with their song ‘611’. They got the crowd fired up and bouncing along in rhythm to their tight beats and experimental sounds. Top stuff.
Finally we had the main event of the night, Jointpop. Hailing from Los Loveas, Port Of Spain, Trinidad (not Tobago!), these Caribbean rockers have come a long way for a European tour, and were gracious enough to stop off at our Union. Unlike the two bands before them, Jointpop managed to squeeze five members on stage, including an actual drummer! They rounded their ensemble out with a keyboardist, two guitarists, bassist and singer. A tight fit, but they managed, both literally and musically. Playing a classic rock type of music with the stylings of The Clash and Thin Lizzy dosed with Deep Purple whilst even sounding at times like a metal Madness; Jointpop brought the noise and fun. These guys are serious musicians and have been around since 1996, and it showed as they were tight all night and delivered their tunes with precision and vigour, running through an 11 song set, highlights of which were ‘Yoko’, ‘Monday Morning Love Situation’ and the closer: ‘Fame’. This was great stuff from the Caribbean band, and with the release of their new album The Longest Kiss Goodnight recently, hopefully we’ll be hearing a lot more of them.
One last word; although the gig was well attended, there was certainly room for more people. This is free music the university is giving you a chance to experience people. Who knows who you might see? You might catch a band before they become huge, or maybe you’ll find a new favourite? You might even meet someone! Try and get along to some gigs throughout term, especially if you stay at Hillhead.
http://www.myspace.com/organicliquidmachine
http://www.reverbnation.com/thepounding
http://www.myspace.com/jointpop
Stuart Manson
