A brief visit to the Thirsty Scholar to see as many bands as possible before 10.30pm. That's my disciplined cut off point tonight due to too many late nights gigging and mothing lately and a few long excursions around the country chasing butterflies. Knackered I am.

Anyway the studentesque venue was busy outside with various bands gathered and after a few chats with band members no-one seemed to know what was going on and when the first band would hit the stage. Promising I must say.

More chatting and eventually a rumble from inside signified that the first band was kicking off.

Stuntface are a band I am more than familiar with and since going down from a quite superb 4 piece have had to gradually rebuild and get back on track. This I feel as taken a while as the few times I have witnessed them as a 3 piece they have been adequate but nothing outstanding. Tonight however was a different matter and this was the best showing to date with frontman Wayne in his usual chatty manner but due to time restrictions forced to plod on rather than waffle too much. No bad thing really as the momentum really improved things and the musicianship was very sharp and tight with some excellent vocal work throughout. 'Every Dog Has It's Day' was my personal pick out of a set that didn't really have one low point. Really pleasing to see this band improve so much as they really do put the work in and obviously enjoy their stuff. Like I said can't fault it at all and with outbursts of talent like this are always worth checking out. Very, very good indeed.

Next an acoustic guy who's name slipped me by and who rattled out a set filled with anectodal ditties and comedic verse. Not half bad but the slip from comically sharp to blatantly vulgar was a faux pas of the highest order and for me was totally unnecessary. The laughs didn't need to be this cheap and detracted from what was a pretty decent showing. That's purely a personal opinion and the crowd seemed to enjoy it nonetheless and in truth it did the job. Pity the guy likes Rancid though - I prefer punk myself.

Lastly for me it was Global Parasite who are still in their embryonic stages but fuckin' played an absolute stormer here and really left me mightily impressed. 'Scream At The World' was the pick of the crop and really highlighted what a good working unit we have on our soiled punky hands with each musician aware of what the other is doing and all keeping orderly line so as to produce a fairly tight performance that really rocked to the rafters. This was the second top performance from these guys in a matter of days and the question must be asked as to how good this trio will be in 6 months time. I would like to see them stray in and out of the crusty aspect of punk and produce something on CD that is really well produced and gives each musician an audible clarity that compliments his fellow players. I suspect we could have a real solid piece of work on our hands if this transpires and also it would help Global Parasite to gain a bigger fanbase in a shorter period of time. Just a thought! This however was rock fuckin' solid and if you like your hardcore melodies then get a piece of this. Crackin'.

So it was 10.30pm and off I tootled happy with the few bands I saw and pissed off at the lack of organisation that left this gig to over-run and ensure I missed the always excellent Flat Back Four and Mafafi. Never mind.

Oh the acoustic guy goes by the title of 'Name In Brackets' so there you go.

review by OMD (24 July 2007)