Goodbye Lenin

October 17th 2008
Henry's Cellar Bar

Picture the scene, cold night wandering down to Henry's Cellar bar with a mix of excitement and trepidation. On arrival we went in to be greeted by maybe 8 people, ok it was 8:30pm and we had an hour before they came on. Within 30 minutes the doors didn't stop with more and more bodies coming in packing the place out. From 8 to around 80 the atmosphere grew and the support act could hardly be heard over the rabble of the crowd, obviously not here to see him. Had the air of a university class and with a ratio of 5 girls to every guy you can draw your own conclusions as to how nice a guy Jon Lo is. Haven been blinded by the flash of photographs and suffering from severe claustrophobia due to the small ceiling and the giant University guys I was very ready to hear the music.

Opening track Monkey Soldiers silenced the rowdy audience and got the gig off to a fast paced and upbeat start, until the technical faults began to kick in. Having the first 3 tracks of your set ruined by broken microphones, reverb and silent backing vocals would usually resign a band to the “lets get this over and out of here” category however that's when I realised 90% of the people in the place were there simply for this band playing second string at Henry's, the night got more confusing the longer the gig went on.

With a sing-along and a repeat track encore these guys had the crowd begging for more, ok so most of them probably returned back to the local halls of residence with the band but still they say friends are the hardest to play in front of. I could rabble on about the rest of the set which went like;

Monkey Soldiers
Major Tom
Little France
Strangely Liberated
Sharavise
One Way Ticket
Bonfire Night
Laughter Track

But to be honest these guys are professional, tight, captivating, laden with great influences from Smashing Pumpkins, Joy Division, Beatles, Pixies, etc. And should definitely be heard by anyone remotely interested in the kind of talent that is currently on the amateur scene in this country. As great as the gig was it was also hugely frustrating to see a band like this not really have any direction to their music and trapped in the cycle of doing small shows for the same people, this is the way you end up becoming a pub band.

Little France and Laughter Track are the best tunes these guys have up their sleeve and they know how to work a crowd, the lead singer has a stage presence and captivating voice that pulls you deep into their sound and Jon Lo bouncing around to the side added an almost ska like feel to this gig.

You will be forgiven for thinking that they have done the typical formula for successful rock band, get a lead singer the girls will love, a female drummer for the guys to ogle and a solid bass player and a likeable guitarist that's as happy as he is talented. But once you hear them play or better yet speak to them they come across as being real about the music they are playing.

Some people say ignorance is bliss but unfortunately in music it isn't. The band remind me of someone selling a Porsche for £100 as they don't know what its worth. By playing Henry's Cellar bar to 80 friends and a few hardcore gig goers they aren't winning over new fans and they certainly aren't going to improve their image. Henry's whilst being intimate and close in isn't the best venue for a four piece rock band that have polished performances and decent songs. These guys should be out promoting their music to other larger bands for support slots at larger venues to people that may never have heard of them before thus driving forward their music. If you are to play a venue that you can personally fill then you':d be as well playing in your garden and taking the £4 per head directly from your mates, at least then you save on transport costs.

Link - Goodbye Lenin MySpace

Reviewed by Scottish Steve

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