大象传媒

So, turns out there were actually a few people left in Belfast this weekend (not at all bitter about missing Jay Z and Arcade Fire at Oxegen, nooo), and some of us had the treat of trans:mission day 2 to console ourselves with.

And what a wee treat it was. Two stages, the Penthouse Bar and the Studio in the Waterfront Hall, served as the venue on a hellaciously wet and miserable evening for a showcase of a fine selection of Belfast talent (that wasn't already on display at Oxegen, that is). 听

First up were the 1930s, whose laid-back, sweet and jaunty indie/folk vibe, not a million miles away from the likes of Noah & The Whale, Laura Marling et al, went down pretty well with the early birds. A good double hand clap will do that for you. Amiable, winsome and melodious - not a bad start.

Next, we had More Than Conquerors in the Studio. They do their indie-rock-almost-a-wee-bit-emo thing well enough, but there just isn't anything terribly new or original here. There are other NI bands doing this same sort of thing, but doing it better.

It takes a couple of songs to get past the fact that the lead singer of Girls Names sounds incredibly like Morrissey. REALLY like Morrissey. Once you do get past that, though, they aren't half bad. They have a little bit of a Sonic Youth sound about them, which was definitely enough to catch this reviewer's interest. Definitely one to keep an eye on.

It seems that since And So I Watch You From Afar have taken off, there's been a bit of an increase in punk rock influenced instrumental bands about. Continuous Battle Of Order, or CBOO (can we please have this acronym catch on?) fit into that category on paper, but in reality, they're very much doing their own thing. The two of them (formerly of We Are Knives) make one hell of a racket with just drums and a guitar, and produce some pretty intriguing math-rock in the process. They certainly did a pretty good job of impressing the crowd and making a few new fans, if the very excited young man asking for their name was anything to go by.

Another stage, another instrumental rock band, this time one with its ASIWYFA bent a little easier to identify. Kasper Rosa are absolutely full of energy, bounding about the stage, bounding off the stage and bounding onto the speakers, much to the delight of all the phoographers and the kids down the front. But Kasper Rosa are at their most interesting in their quieter moments, where there's almost a teensy tiny little whiff of Fleetwood about them. Unfortunately those moments don't last quite long enough to fulfil the potential that they hint at.

And, with everybody's favourite ska-punk combo Pocket Billiards, now the night really starts to take off. From those opening blasts of trumpet at the start of Dirty Money, there's a party afoot. Pretty much everyone (although the night is still suffering from a lack of punters, no doubt owing to the horrendous weather and the Oxegen clash) is on their feet, dancing and pogoing around at least a little bit. Certainly the band are- they always look like they're having the time of their lives, this lot. To describe them as crowd pleasers makes them sound like less than they are, and takes away from them somehow. But it's still true. Completely pitch perfect, sounding absolutely fantastic and just stupid amounts of fun, they blast out cracking tune after cracking tune (Drunken Waster, Spide and Belfast Town go down extremely well). It's just a shame that there weren't more people there to enjoy it, and that the set couldn't have been longer frankly.

It's been a while since this reviewer has seen Kowalski live, and seeing them tonight shows just how far they've come. They were always a great wee band, but they've really got their own sound down these days. The influences of the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, The Shins et al are still visible, but they're very much influences rather than something to be copied, which is great to see. As always, their light, breezy, sweet indie tunes brighten up the drab and miserable night beating down on the windows of the Penthouse Bar, as we get some sunshine injected into proceedings. They're just lovely, and there's nowt wrong with that.

Although it really is a pity that there aren't more people here tonight, it makes not one bit of difference to Not Squares. They get the crowd full on raving all over the place, regardless. They even manage to get people up dancing onstage with them for a bit, much to the chagrin of security. To say that Not Squares blew a few people's minds might be understating it a bit. The beats, the dirty guitars, the beats, the revved up synthy electro goodness, the beats (did I mention the beats?) have everyone going pretty much buck daft. And rightly so. They are just incredible live- amazingly tight, so much energy injected into the room, everyone forgetting where they are and just jumping around like their lives depend on it- amazing to achieve that in such a short space of time, and in a room that's barely half full. Closing with Asylum was a perfect cap on the night- it completely wrecked the place (figuratively, at least), everyone singing along to the chorus, dancing like loons and several people continuing to sing along to the chorus as they left the Waterfront. The 'whoa-oh-ohs' echoing around Lanyon Place were a lovely testament to how much fun we had. Must do that again.