Thursday night saw the first regional heat of Bank of Ireland’s National Student Music Awards at the NUIG bar in Galway. After a frantic start involving three taxis, two trains and a bus, I arrived just in time to catch Highwired under a surprisingly powerful light-rig. Normally red gels wreck photographers’ heads but I rather like the deep saturation of colour. Highwired are a five-piece hailing from Limerick, taking their own stance on steadfast rock with inventive melodies and frontwoman Stacy’s attractive vocals. Wish I’d caught more of their set to hear how far they push their sound. They didn’t win a place in the final heat though perhaps they’ll expand outside the spotlight and return with more force next year.

Floyd Soul and the Wolf generated interest through hard work across gig circuits of late and the culminating experience and confidence brought to the stage as gave their all to Galway. While I’m a fan of blues and whiskey, tales of the lash seem hard to swallow, coming from mere whippersnappers but sure, Jim Morrison was good as born on the rocks! Whoops of support went up when they were announced joint winners later in the night.

Blasterbra work on prototypes: Anna McCarthy whipped hers out on stage! Wired to an iPod and reassuringly flimsy, her bespoke garment’s adjustable paddding is equipped with speakers and guarantees an end to mood-breaking CD changes….
‘Quiet You’, available to stream from the band’s MySpace, is a fizz of cheeky, cherry pop, endearingly bitchy and upbeat. Having approached this heat hoping to see Blasterbra reach the finals it must be said that live renditions on the night didn’t quite match the winners’ performances but they’re definitely worth keeping an ear on or an eye, if you’re a fan of Dragons’ Den….

DISCOnnect4 cite their main influence as The Mighty Boosh and certainly look the part. Appearance aside, an aspect of the comic duo’s influence comes to the fore: theatrics and immense imagination. Guitarist Fuz’s talent matched tremendously with the antics of vocalist/synths man Papa Leon, eyeliner smearing as energy carved chords in grips and throats. It came as no surprise to hear the judges’ decision to send them to The Village.

A real capstone of the night was Future Kings of Spain’s electric deliverance as headline act, surrounding scratchy sounds around the stage. I last saw them play a jammered Whelans in their element last year, sending the crowd wild. Watching amongst the pared-down audience in NUIG was rare treat, FKOS at ease wheeling around the stage, lively and spontaneous. Disconnect4 were right at the front, singing along to every song while two very groupie-looking girls whirled and gave good Aerosmith beside me. I’ll post the rest of these pics seperately as there are so many!

Assured, cohesive performances of commanding songs and stage-presence were winning factors for DISCOnnect4 and Floyd Soul and the Wolf in the Galway heat and the judges made an informed choice. Extravagance and flamboyancy coupled with keen ears are a winning format and both bands deserve recognition of the effort they presented: it’s clear they’re ready to step it up a notch and take their show to new heights.
Also heartening was three of the four bands featuring a strong female presence in very different musical genres. Taken as a cross-section of college sounds it’s a promising start to the competition. Bring on Cork next Wednesday!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Photos, Bank of Ireland National Student Music Awards, Reviews, Bands, Heats. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.