Aug 21 2006
Live: Quadmyre at Bluewater
Regular readers of this blog will know that I don’t talk about local music very often. Part of this is because I like to write about bands that genuinely excite me, and only a handful can manage that. The larger part of this though is that I’m just not really familiar with the local scene. I’ve been trying to rectify this of late, partly out of necessity as I want to try and get into live music promotion in the area. Anyway, you may remember a few months ago when I went to see Kate Nash, I ended up catching a local band called Quadmyre who I rather liked the sound of. A few weeks ago the band let me know that they would be playing a set at Bluewater as part of a several day music event that would be happening there.
Now for those of you unfamiliar with the area, Bluewater is a large shopping centre. In fact, I think it may be the largest in Europe, but don’t quote me on that. My point is that it’s hardly the place to hold a music festival type thing. As the weeks went on, I could find absolutely nothing on the net about the event, and even people who should have known about it had no clue. Put simply, this was the most poorly advertised event that I have ever heard of. There was absolutely nothing in the way of promotion for it. When I got the place on the day, I had no idea where to go, and only after wandering around for a bit did I find a stage outside of the food court with some kid belting out cover versions. That’s the kind of event that this was. He was quickly followed by an Elvis impersonator, which was about the time I decided to go and look around the shops for a while. I headed back outside just before Quadmyre were due on to find a small crowd and the band setting up, and everything seemed to be going well enough. That’s until it started pouring with rain just as the band started, sending a lot of the crowd heading for cover and making the few remaining die-hards take refuge in the tent, which was helpfully set up a long way back from the stage as the picture demonstrates.
As for Quadmyre themselves, they played an excellent set despite these setbacks. This was the first time I’d seen them play a complete set. Well, that’s actually a lie. I saw the whole set at the Beacon Court show, I just wasn’t really paying attention until they won me over about halfway through. They had a 45 minute slot, and made full use of it, getting through a ton of songs of varying sounds, from 60s styled pop numbers to ballads to a fantastic closer called (I think) ‘Quadyssey’ that was full on rock opera. Looking into the band, it seems that they only starting playing together last year and yet they already sound great together and have a ton of fully prepared songs. The guitars play wonderfully off of each other, and the band harmonises perfectly behind lead singer Greg’s impressive vocals. They didn’t play either of the songs that are available below at the Bluewater show, but these are the ones that are available online for your enjoyment.
MP3 Quadmyre - Free Thing (expired)
MP3 Quadmyre - Night Out (expired)
Quadmyre will be playing this Sunday at the Beacon Court Tavern in Gillingham. Other bands playing are Mary’s Dog and The Anasazi. Doors open at 7:30pm, £3 entry, which goes to charity.
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