Mika Bomb pic by Martin Myers
The backroom of the Dublin Castle
is a tiny dark space that has seen more rock history than a busload of
geologists.
Tonight, there is a bill of five acts, as there is most days
of the week. When bands 'pay their dues' by getting gigs under their belt then
places like the Dublin
Castle are where they pay
them.
By the time that I arrive, the Black Dots are well into
their stride. A girl plays guitar and sings, while beside her a guy stands and
plinks away at a keyboard. They don't immediately grab you by the lapels, but
they are perfectly enjoyable as a prelude to the long night to come.
Next up are Lord Numb, a three piece who are clearly a
gig-hardened and experienced outfit. The main singer/guitarist is a really mean
axeman. He's one of those players who can make his instrument do anything and
tonight it's blistering rock all the way.
Lord Numb soon get the room stomping along to their set
which is mostly original songs with the odd well chosen cover version of
various punky standards. They finish with a rousing version of Jim Carroll's 'People Who Died' and as this is one of my all time favourite songs, they get
two enthusiastic thumbs up from me.
It's becoming almost a cliché of these multi-band bills that
somewhere in the evening there will be an appearance from a bunch of lads who
are in thrall to the terrace anthems of Kasabian. Tonight is no exception and
the exponents are The Beautiful Game.
Musically they are actually perfectly reasonable (as all
these bands are) but the relentless swagger and machismo gets a bit wearing
after a while. The singer alternates between pumping his fist and exhorting us
to get into the mood and rubbing his stomach and chest in a manner that might
be better suited to the privacy of his own home. “Your Bones” is a tune,
though.
Next comes Rhonda, a soulful, torchy singer from Germany who
has the pipes and R & B vibe of this venue's most famous alumnus, Amy Winehouse.
It's the perfect time of the evening for Rhonda - the crowd
is happily drunk and in the mood for some serious soul. Her band swings, she
emotes and everyone falls into a joyfully lachrymose reverie. Great stuff.
I first saw Mika Bomb back in the late 1990's and they have
now reformed for their first series of gigs in more than half a decade.
Mika Bomb were pioneers of Japanese all girl guitar pop,
taking inspiration from Shonen Knife. The line up was always very fluid and we
always used to joke that Mika Handa would hang around Heathrow Airport and
recruit any passing Japanese girl who came off a plane with a guitar in her
luggage.
Tonight it's as though the band have never been away. The
guitars still thrash at one hundred mile an hour, the vocals still a succession
of high-pitched screams and squeals. The Chipmunks play The Ramones.
Mika Bomb released one of the all time classic pop/punk albums
in 'The Fake Fake Sound of Mika Bomb' and a lot of this gets aired tonight. 'Contact
Tokyo', 'Hey Man' and ‘Heart Attack’ come blasting past and we all go nuts.
A brilliant show and a really enjoyable evening. I derive
pleasure from every single act tonight (to varying degrees).
The Dublin Castle is a Camden institution - treasure it.
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