Event: Miss Black America Venue: The Studio, Hartlepool, UK Date: 21 July 2001
It was Saturday night and we were looking to get our kicks from our
regular dose of Rock N' Roll.
Tonight we decided to head down to Hartlepool and see Sigue Sigue Sputnik
in action. Not quite sure what the support band would be like, as we had
never heard of them before tonight.
The flyers simply said … 'Supported by the excellent Miss Black America'.
Who or what would we be seeing here onstage tonight?
Hitting the stage about 9 o' clock we finally got the see Miss Black
America in action. Rather confusing perhaps to find out very early on that
they are (a) not black, (b) not American, and (c) most definitely not
female! (Although their lead singer Seymour did look rather fetching in
his black eyeliner).
Here before us we had four very fit looking young men looking fuelled for
noise and ready for action.
Opening with the loud and lively song 'Infinite Chinese Box' we saw them
burst into action. Pretty boy Seymour thrashed about the stage while
giving it all his little lungs would allow and did in fact knock the
microphone stand flying. Whoah! What a start!
The venue was actually quite busy tonight, in fact I can honestly say I've
never seen it look so full as it did tonight.
The crowd that had assembled here tonight looked on in stunned silence at
the wonderment that was to be known as Miss Black America.
The band said a quick hello and then launched into their second song 'Car
Crash For A Soul'. A song that although it started slow soon gathered pace
and really got us all going.
A female member of the audience who could not restrain herself any longer
took to the front of the room and danced along with the sounds thrown out
by the band.
Quite a nice catchy indie song, which combined soft vocals against a good
strong background of both guitars and drums.
It certainly had plenty of life in it and a good tempo running throughout.
By the time we'd reached the third song in the set we were well and truly
hooked on this band. 'Talk Hard' was it's name and it reminded us a bit of
a cross between Suede and Placebo, only with a bit more edge to it.
If you like My Vitriol then you would have liked this one that's for
certain.
The band continued to flood the room with what was indeed excellent songs.
Seymour thrashed and flung himself about the stage.
Taking a closer look you might have noticed the message scrawled down his
right arm in black marker pen proclaiming … Dead by 30 … Let's hope this
certainly isn't the case as this is one very intoxicating individual to
watch perform live.
Topped with the rest of the band who are all hugely talented and extremely
polished in what they do this was a real treat to see billed as a support
band.
I doubt whether they will stay in this role for long however. Talent this
plentiful deserves to take centre stage and show you what they are really
made of.
I've already told you who supplied the vocals to this mighty impressive
band but let me introduce you to the rest of the lads in this wondrous
band:
Beating seven shades out of the drums was Neil Moses Baldwin.
On bass looking mean and moody was Tripod Mike.
On guitar we had a very cheerful looking Gish. An endearing character who
really seems to enjoy performing in front of others.
About half way through the set we were introduced to the band's new single
'Don't Speak My Mind'. To us older ones in the crowd (yes some of us are
in fact over 30!) this sounded very much like a modern day version of The
Cure. A band we loved so much when we were young and discovering that rock
came in more than one shape and form.
The band taunted the locals by saying.. 'I hear you are into construction
… you like to hang monkeys… well here's one for all the sister fuckers!'
If nothing else you have to hand it to these guys for having guts. Not
many people would brave the wrath of Hartlepool and it's locals and come
out with a comment like that.
Still they managed to survive the night without being indeed hung for a
comment like that.
One song that really stood out as a potential big hit with the Uni crowds
was ' Scream For Me'. Any student Uni's worth their weight in gold should
check these guys out and get them up for a gig sooner rather than later.
With bands like these you know they are going to make it big time sooner
rather than later and so it's better to have them play now at half the
price than it's going to cost you in a years time when the music media
have latched on to them big time.
The band started to close down their set with their title track 'Miss
Black America' which again is loud, lively and highly addictive.
Last up we had 'The White Noise' which is taken from their current
'Adrenaline Junkie Class-A Mentalist' EP.
Well worth checking out believe me! The closing song saw guitarist Gish
play for all he was worth. Neil the drummer was largely thrown into
darkness during this song, but thrashed the living daylights out of the
drum kit towards the end of the performance.
Mike looked mellowed out, which was a bit of a contrast to the adrenaline
junkie himself lead singer Seymour.
The band finished their set and promptly stomped off stage. A lone guitar
lay disguarded on the stage still stuck playing its last chord.
The stage in darkness this went on until a sound engineer pulled the plug
and switched on the interlude.
Like the sticker on their guitar said 'Mean People Suck'. Quite why anyone
would want to be mean to such musical sweethearts as these is totally
beyond me.
You are now looking at the newest coverts to MBA and their infectious
grooves.
Just goes to show there are so many great bands out there just waiting for
you to discover them. Also not all support bands suck so make sure you get
there early!
Setlist:
Infinite Chinese Box
Car Crash For A Soul
Talk Hard
Human Punk
Strobe
Don't Speak My Mind
Road Kill
Scream For Me
Personal Politics
Miss Black America
The White Noise
