The show kicks off with an energetic but technically challenged set from new local heroes The Fratellis. A good stomping set with the added bonus of free demo cds, score! Next up The Violets. You’d think that if there’s a girl that looks like a cross between Debbie Harry, the blonde from the Human League and a Roxy Music girl then the guys and maybe the girls would be flocking to the front. Singer Alexis is a blonde bombshell with a voice as captivating and shattering as her looks. Their performance is astounding considering the apathy of the crowd. They start with the excellent 'Feast on You' and continue to crash through new songs and their singles, including 'Mirror Mirror'. The Violets are definitely a band that feed on atmosphere and audience involvement and sadly Glasgow have failed to give them the confidence needed to make their show dangerously good.

Neil’s Children start and luckily it becomes a bit less ‘safe’. So begins a sneering, swaggering set, tighter than John Linger’s trousers! Their mischievious, DIY onstage demeanour somewhat reflects their music, particularly ‘Getting Evil in the Playground’ and anthem ‘I Hate Models’. There is substance to their style, however, as the majority of their songs are witty satires about the effects of social conditioning, conformity and living in a nanny-state. Tonight they thrash their way through blinding anarchic songs from their Change/Return/Success EP and even treat us to a new song that John describes as ‘a bit slower’. He confirms this claim with bassist James Hair by saying, ‘James, is this song slower?’ to which he cheekily replies ‘Yes John, it is slower’, causing a chuckle amongst the crowd. It is this awkward, puckish banter and the evil glint in their eyes that makes these misfits so likeable.

Punk, post-punk, art punk, psychedelic twanged punk…who cares! It’s impossible to categorise Neil’s Children’s sound and this is certainly a good thing! In some songs you can detect flashes of Dead Kennedys, Gang of Four, the Buzzcocks and PIL, but this is not to say that they’ve been studying the ‘Idiot’s guide to Punk…and it’s many divisions vol. 24’. Their raw, snarling and often psychedelic songs attack you like a bloodthirsty wolf and leave you begging to be bitten again.

Review by Neily Alimohamadi
www.neilschildren.co.uk
www.theviolets.co.uk
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Theater/3307/index.html

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