大象传媒

Another day, another charity gig or so it seems. 听Of course aside from the good causes, its good line-ups that get us out, and this all-ages gig provides a handy show-case of younger bands (and younger fans) alongside some more established crowd-pullers, plus it's a Friday night.

Opening up a far-too-many-bands line-up this evening are Illicit, belting out classic rock vocals over wider ranging guitars. 听Indeed, range is the key to them, for the ambition is there, in the searching angles and desperation of 'Down To The River', but isn't yet matched by vocal ability. 听However their classic rock with touches of punk shows enough potential to get our evening started well.

Hurrying quickly onto Forgetting June, they move further along the punk scale, delivering solid angst ridden power pop rock, serving their emotional stadium screaming (in a good way) with a chaser of melody.

Continuing the quick turn-around (it must 10pm curfews for the kids), More Than Conquerors are, by dint of slightly more age and experience, a step further than what has gone before. 听They are willing to move in different directions, alternating stompy rock with folkish influences in an interpretation of the old quiet-loud dynamic. 听Halted temporarily by technical difficulties, they continue their demonstration of relatively more practiced song-writing, showing a willingness to not rush and take their time. 听Closing with defiant cymbal crashing riffage, their funkier touches to the yelp rock canon recall such bands as Battles and The Mars Volta. 听Maybe not quite veni, vedi, vici yet, but getting there.

The relatively old men of The Rupture Dogs are a much dirtier prospect, expounding the theory that all you need is a riff and a rhythm, and that everything is window dressing. 听It may be a clich茅, but it's worked from Cream to Nirvana, and both are represented in the blues-rock sound blasted out. 听Their experience is obvious in terms of showmanship, a willingness to play with the crowd rather than just play the music, and they close by extending 'Joe' into a visceral thrash-out.

Goodbye Pluto are a stark contrast to the almost classic sounds of the Rupture Dogs, blending post-rock with emo vocals and soaring guitars. 听There is undoubted potential here, apparent from their good musicianship and song-writing, but like Illicit earlier, their vocals, this time female, are not yet able to deliver their promising intentions. 听As with Illicit, a few more gigs and they could be something.

Finally, we arrive at our headliners, A Plastic Rose, who kick off with the emotional roller-coaster of 'Colour Blue', which ably demonstrates their forte of toying with an audience, sending our soaring and crashing all at the same time. 听The comparative calm of 'Sun's A Shadow' allows us and them to draw breath, and any sense of familiarity to the set is dispelled by a broken string changing their usual twin guitar sound. 听Inevitably for an all ages gig, the screaming closure is provided by 'Kids Don't Behave Like This.' 听They should though.

William Johnston