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Flylow (The Picnic Solution, Mr. International and the Getaway Gang)

The Vine on 20th June 2006
Reviewed by Dave on 21st June 2006

As I arrive at The Vine there is a topless guy dancing around, part of me says “Okay, this is probably time to leave, at least until drunken pikey topless line dancing classes are over”. But, I decide to brave potential lung stabbings and I pay my £4 and make my way to the bar, where they have stopped selling draught... its 7:30 and there is no draught, so I settle for a bottle of beer instead. I find a table and wait for the bands to start.

Mr. International and the Getaway Gang

Mr. International sound like Green Day and Flogging Molly having a fight in an empty tin of beans, they are a punk band through and through, from the opening riff of the first song it is obvious that they draw heavy influences from Green Day but as the set progresses they start to sound more like Flogging Molly.

Songs which stand out for me are; ‘This Bastard’ which sounds like it could have easily been an outtake from ‘Dookie’, and ‘She’s Got Tourette’s’ a noisy and chaotic song. Although punk is one of my least favourite genres I couldn't help but be impressed by the Manchester trio's brand of chaotic pop-punk, definitely worth checking out if you are into "that kind of thing".

Rating: 7/10
Website: www.myspace.com/mrinternationalandthegetawaygang

The Picnic Solution

The last time that I saw these guys they had only had two practices with Steve on drums, not that you could tell though. Now, only a matter of weeks later and they are sounding more together and in sync with each other.

Lynsey belts out the vocals and belts is really the only word I can think of, she has a powerful set of lungs on her for such a skinny girl. During the band’s final song she sounds more like Karen O than Karen O does at times, think Karen O on ‘Rich’ and you’ll be somewhere close to imagining what Lynsey sounds like.

Lynsey’s vocals are bolstered by the excellent guitar, bass and drums put on by Paul, Tom and Steve. My one complaint would be the lack of crowd interaction as the front of the band Lynsey needs to involve the crowd more, even if its just saying “Thanks” after every song or giving some of the song names out, but this is something that will come with playing more gigs and the band have a pretty hectic gig schedule coming up.

Their set is once again a bouncy alterna-pop affair, once again though they are playing to an almost empty room as apparently there is some sort of football game on.

Rating: 8/10
Website: www.myspace.com/thepicnicsolution

Flylow

Flylow are a Finnish band who have been on tour in England since the end of January, they also impressed a bald old man with a satchel who raved about how they “had the makings of The Who”, The Who are probably at the front of his mind because they recently played Leeds for the first time in about 200 years but Flylow sound nothing like The Who.

Flylow are heavy, I’d go as far to say that they are metal but they are ‘polite metal’ (if the guys at Vibrations can make up genres then so can I). It’s no secret that I’m no fan of metal, in fact during the whole of Flylow’s set the part of me that likes folk rock is whimpering in a corner, mostly because I am actually quite enjoying the Finnish metal stylings.

The band power through a heavy set that even features wailing guitar solos that are a required to appear in all metal songs by Metal Laws that were passed by the Metal Lords years ago. The band are all individually talented and together they are only more so, the bassist is one of the most impressive bassists I have seen in a while and the lead guitarist is quite ace.

If there was a guide to knowing when you’ve “made it” the most important thing in that guide would be being told by an old bald man with a satchel that “You can play” and Flylow achieved this highest of musical accolades tonight, so I guess that means they have made it, congratulations.

Rating: 8/10
Website: www.flylowmusic.com

There was a band on before Mr. International, but I can't remember their name, so rather than look like an idiot I didn't post my review of them. Of course, looking like an idiot is like my super-power.

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