9 Left Behind/Lyrical Monsoon/Skyway Avenue/Somewhere From Nowhere

The Anvil, Bournemouth

Tonight we are at the Anvil to celebrate the release of a 3 track debut EP called “Lucky Louise” by Bournemouth’s 9 Left Behind. The band are part of a growing scene of Pop Punk bands in the area who take their influences from bands such as Blink 182, All Time Low, New Found Glory, Green Day and such like.

9 Left Behind are a 3 piece who only formed recently in October 2012 and have so far played a handful of gigs around local venues. There are three support bands Lyrical Monsoon, Skyway Avenue and Somewhere From Nowhere provided to keep things moving until the headliners take to the stage.

Somewhere From Nowhere are a female fronted 5 piece pop punk band that have an age range of just 16-18. They formed early last year and have only a few live shows under their belt so far. As they nervously take to the stage a large crowd of fans file into the basement venue, immediately showing their support and positive encouragement. The band kick off with a cover of “All The Small Things” by Blink 182, the vocals sound really poor with Kaili and Jake struggling to put any real energy into this well known song. Despite this shaky start things improve and the band soon find their stride with some of their own material, “Living It Up” and the slower “I Guess This Is Goodbye” which both sound much better. The young band really impress with their musical skills on guitars and drums, with drummer Bailey especially showing he is a potential star of the future. The band end on a high with an energetic cover of Green Day’s “Holiday” which gets plenty of applause from the really supportive crowd.

Somewhere From Nowhere 1

Next up are Skyway Avenue, another pop punk combo who released their debut album “Comic Book Crush” earlier this year. The band have an air of confidence and chemistry about them. The band play a few cuts from the album which include the incredibly catching “Loser” and the equally infectious “Taking My Chances”, with a cover of New Found Glory’s “My Friend’s Over You” thrown in for fun. The barefoot player Joe Carter pulls some serious shapes while guitarist Phil Round pulls some really amusing faces during their performance. The band play a well rehearsed comfortable set which is sadly lost on most of the audience who are largely unresponsive throughout. The band’s music is just right although I feel there is some energy missing within their performance, possibly with a more responsive crowd things could have been different.

Skyway Avenue 1

Lyrical Monsoon 1

Tonight’s “wild card” amongst these pop punksters are Salisbury’s “Lyrical Monsoon” a band who absolutely nailed their performance at the O2 Academy in Bournemouth earlier this year during the local band showcase gig “Bandalism”. It is very hard to pidgeonhole their style, they take their influences from “Hip Hop” along with a zillion others from everywhere within the world of music. The band comprise of two frontmen Carl and Gavin who deliver fast paced vocals, backed by a live band of two guitars, bass and drums, with certainly no DJ decks. The band surprise the initially startled audience with some cleverly put together lyrics and some expertly played guitar work. Kicking off with “We Got The Funk” the lads sprout out some great lyrics backed by some seriously funky bass lines, this soon reels in the audience who by now seem to be getting really into the band’s very different vibe. The band have no set list and decide on stage what songs to play, depending on the audience. It all seems a little bit chaotic but somehow it works. Their audience are treated to some further original material including the working title of “Jordan’s Song”, which features some fine clean unrappped vocals from guitarist Jordan. There is a radical reworking of the Eurthymics “Sweet Dreams” which sounds so good done this way. The band despite their own reservations triumphed over a tough audience tonight with a performance that impressed even the toughest of critics.

9 Left Behind 1–2

As the clock ticks past 11pm it is time for the headliners to take the stage. The band have brought a sizeable crowd with them, including the inebriated guitarist from “Escapefrom 98” Lennon who becomes the whipping boy for tonight with various vocal exchanges. The band kick off with “Another Drink” and show their colours as a band heavily influenced by the sounds of bands from across the Atlantic. Their songs are mostly 2-3 minute fast paced tunes ‘that do exactly as it says on the tin!’ The three piece comprise of 5 string bassist Tom, along with very exuberant drummer Danny and frontman Dave, who should be put in front of a firing squad for sacrilegiously forgetting the words to legendary punk classic “Teenage Kicks”. The band comfortably provide plenty of energy and entertainment for the audience, but despite their best efforts fail to get any sort of movement going. A cover of Tom Jones “It’s Not Unusual” done punk pop stylee provides some fun entertainment before performing the lead track from the EP “Lucky Louise”, which is a fine track that packs a real punch. An encore is requested but the band decline, due to the venue curfew and the excessive heat onstage that has made them extremely thirsty; so the upstairs bar seems to be the place they are heading.

9 Left Behind Set List
Intro
Another Drink
Last Month
Easy Like Sunday Morning(Lionel Ritchie)
Home
Drum Solo
Dammit(Blink 182)
Summer
Teenage Kicks(The Undertones)
Anti -Perspirant
Under Achiever
It’s Not Unusual(Tom Jones)
Lucky Louise

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