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Make it Better Later / Short Warning & Spunge

Fibbers in York on 6th April
Reviewed by HelenB on 9th April 2007

Make it Better Later's single 'Headlines and lies' had impressed me a couple of months ago, so I went along to this gig, hoping to hear more quality stuff from them, and I did not go home disappointed.

Make it Better Later

I just really can't get enough of this ska band, they were awesome at this gig. Their music was fun and unpredictable. 'The legend of Ninja' in particular, gave their performance a humorous touch, as singer Aaron's facial expressions whilst imagining what a ninja would sound like if he wrote a song, were highly amusing. They also performed a love song to South Park's Eric Cartman, which I'm sure Eric would have loved, as he does like to be adored.

The group have got a pleasant chemistry on stage. If for any reason, they're not playing their instruments, for instance, Amy's violin isn't used on all of the tracks, they stay on the stage supporting the other members, by dancing and encouraging the audience to get more involved.

As the band played, more and more people in the venue moved further forward to get nearer to the stage, so clearly everyone was enjoying what they were hearing. I also noticed that some members of the crowd actually knew a lot of the words, which shows the band are already gathering a bit of a fanbase.

The band know how to work with the audience as well, as they got them to participate in a couple of the songs, and they saved their most popular song 'The Pirate Song' til last, so they went off with a bang, leaving the audience completely satisfied.

Rating: 9/10
Website: www.myspace.com/makeitbetterlater

Short Warning

This punk band unfortunately did not impress. They were very generic, and all I could think whilst they were playing was 'have heard it all before'. Someone in the audience caused the band offence by shouting 'Fall Out Boy' whilst they were playing, and admittedly that was a bit rude, but at least that audience member was being honest. The crowd just weren't responding like they had done for the first band. Instead of moving near to the stage, they were now moving far away from it, and nobody seemed all that fussed about listening.

The band didn't help themselves either. They pretty much alienated the entire audience after the first track, when they told everyone to 'Fuck off', because they hadn't heard enough people clapping. This type of behaviour might be accepted from the likes of the Gallagher Brothers, but it certainly isn't accepted from artists who have yet to prove themselves in the music industry. It just made them appear overly arrogant and unlikeable. Also, the lead singer's thrusting movements were not enjoyable to watch, and actually made my friend cringe. She was clearly disturbed.

Rating: 3/10
Website: www.myspace.com/shortwarning

Spunge

I'm gutted to say that I didn't actually get to see all of Spunge's performance, as there was a last train that had to be caught. However, what I did see really made me want to stay longer. The group got the crowd jumping with their very first song, which strangely enough, repeatedly goes 'Jump' in the chorus. The music was very hard to stay still to, which can only be a positive thing. The crowd were obviously loving it.

Rating: 7/10
Website: www.spunge.co.uk

All in all, it was a great night. It started great with 'Make it Better Later' surprising the audience by being a cut above what is normally expected of first acts, and it ended on a high, with Spunge making sure everyone had a good time.

Also, if you've never been to Fibbers in York, I'd really recommend it, as it's a really chilled, relaxed atmosphere.

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