My Vancouver

support PMS + Ciccone Ritchie + My Emissary
author TL date 14/08/10 venue The Rock, Copenhagen, DEN

Seriously. I'm running out of introductions for gigs of this kind. I'm at The Rock in Copenhagen again. It's an EB Live night. Among the five select bands are one in which a friend of mine plays. I've just gotten here, and because I missed my train, I also missed the first band. Yep, this night is so identical to every other night I've gone to The Rock to bring back a review, that the only new thing is that tonight, I don't have a photographer with me, and I haven't yet figured out if there's a setting on my new phone that takes photos decent enough to post here. I guess it's up to the bands of the night to light up my words so they can light up this article huh?

PMS

The first band I get to see I have seen before and I am happy to get to see their red shirt/black suit combination again. PMS are consistent proponents of pedal-to-the-floor rock'n'roll, delivered with attitude, feverish energy and the OTT Jack Black-ness of their singer. Just like last time I saw them, they've brought a loyal group of fans along, and though they are a little hesitant to begin with, the band pumps them up by not missing any chances to remind them to rock out. While actually encountering a few more small glitches in sound compared to last time, PMS still come out of the night as the best band on the bill, simply by bringing an unmistakable sense for both melodies, attitudes and partying. Throwing free records out to the crowd to get newcomers interested surely isn't a bad idea either. Just as last time, the only thing to ask yourself about during a PMS show is whether or not full-steam can get a little trivial over a whole show. If the answer for you is no, feel free to add points to my grade.

My Vancouver

Now, the main attraction for me tonight however, is supposed to be My Vancouver, seeing as a good friend of mine occupies the drums in that band. They start out with performances of some faster material of theirs, which has my thoughts drifting towards Placebo, while I notice that these look like the kind of guys who've played in bands since I was listening to Aqua. Sporting a laid back attitude that makes it clear that playing on stage is no big deal at all, My Vancouver play a tight set, making room for comparisons to Danish acts like Saybia and Tim Christensen when slower songs come around. There's a sort of traditionalist feel to it all, like MV discovered the formula for good songs long ago, and are loyally applying it to each of their creations. Combined with a somewhat stereotypical pop/rock-band appearance, and a maybe-too-casual approach to engaging the crowd, the show does become a little sterile and predictable, but other than that, it's smooth sailing through and through. Effective songs. Classy enough performance. Fine show.

7

Ciccone Ritchie

Prior to tonight, I have never heard of Ciccone Ritchie, but I quickly feel like labelling them in my mind as a sort of Creed/Alter Bridge-light band, pumping up American-style radio-rock riff with either anthemic or up-beat rhythms. The music swells with the kind of pathos that betrays that Ciccone Ritchie would probably love to be a bigger band than they are, but while some would surely find this a bit corny, I don't think it's very much so. In any case, from what I can see, CR run about as tight a ship as My Vancouver did, and they command the interest of a similarly sized crowd. Moreover, the only drawbacks are also similar, namely that things sound a little heard-before, and seem to lack that final elusive sense of 'oomph' that characterizes a true soon-to-be breakout-band.

7

My Emissary

Closing off tonight's proceedings are My Emissary, and while I have also never heard of them before I also swiftly find an unfairly shallow tag for my mind to pin on them (you know, being an old jaded reviewer and all). Think about it this way. If there's any truth to the statement that Trivium wants to be Metallica, then similarly you could say that My Emissary would probably like to be Trivium. Of course, both are likely overstatements, but listening to My Emissary, you get that same kind of feeling of a band that's been more than a little inspired by some very particular bands (and here I'm suspecting both Trivium and Metallica). The band's frontfigure has a bark similar to a young Matt Heafy, and the guitars churn out the typical melo-thrash riffage and solos that will surely lift an eyebrow or two (and occasionaly make you suspect slight theft from "Master Of Puppets"). Overall, the show is a bit of a double edged one, because while you feel like ME are on to something with their sound, you're also likely to get the feeling that they're still kind of a little-brother band, compared to more established acts. This is more of a sign of an early career-point than lack of talent though. So while they aren't too exhilarating tonight, I won't be one to say that the future can't hold good things for them.

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