Monster Logic/Hello Hawaii

The Madding Crowd, Bournemouth

If you love live music then the place to be in Bournemouth is the newly opened Madding Crowd. The venue features a plethora of live music nights in fantastic surroundings and tonight is the turn of Run The Night’s “Emerging Bands” night, put together by in-house promoter Brandon Moss; who each Friday puts on some of the best bands making waves on the local music scene.

This evening we have two young bands for our Friday night entertainment. The first of these is the well-established Hello Hawaii from Bournemouth who have been around since 2010 when formed by frontman Wes Bennett. Recently the band have slimmed down to a three-piece after losing guitarist James Dempsey; however being forever inventive, I was pre-warned before the gig of some interesting tweaks to their line-up. The band as a three-piece works really well and they come out with Wes switching between electric and acoustic guitars, creating a slightly different sound than previously. They play newer tunes like the brilliant “America” along with a few older numbers from previous album “Cabin Fever”.

The band then introduce multi-talented musician Hope Schachter; who has played in many bands including “The General Public”, “Moonbeans”, “Kashfi” and “Hope and The New Flower Generation”. Hope brings a very different accompaniment in the form of flute; clarinet and some lovely backing vocals on songs like “Daydreams”, which compliments the band’s sound really well. Hello Hawaii is a band with lots of talent, great songwriting and loads positive self-confidence, why they have not taken the step to broaden their horizons yet is beyond me.

Hello Hawaii 1–2–3–4–5–6–7

Tonight’s headliners are five-piece Dorset indie band Monster Logic, who are about to release they debut EP later this month. Their EP was recorded with the help of Russ Gannicott at the Lighthouse in Christchurch. They have brought plenty of friends, family and fans along with them; getting them a good welcome as they take to the stage. These guys are only in their late teens and to start with a look that is a little wooden at times, but as things progress their talents start to show. The band’s lead singer Alex Willmott is a spectacled nerdy sort, think Cocker/Curtis and you’ll get the idea. His impressive vocal delivery is powerful, moving and really hits the spot. This is backed up by the Stratocaster bookends of Nat Harrop and Josh Ward who show some great technical skills, along with the solid Aidan Formston on bass who has previously worked with Christchurch band One Word. At the back, Jordan Couter hits the skins and keeps the beat in a really animated way.

Monster Logic 1–2–3–4–5–6–7

The band showcase a host of well put together original songs like “Too Rich For My Blood” and the epic upbeat “Selfish”. There are also a few reworked covers including The Pixies “Where is my Mind” and “7” by Catfish & The Bottlemen which gets a total tempo makeover, as well as some nice wah-wah pedal-effect guitar. I am always a sucker for a new band and always get taken in by the innocence and enthusiasm. You cannot help liking these guys, they have plenty of talent in abundance as well as some great musical skills and some new fresh ideas. They already have some gig experience under their belts and only time will tell how they will progress. I shall watch with interest as I am always looking for my next favourite band.

Set List
Silence in Your Mind
Too Rich For My Blood
Brand New Dawn
Where is My Mind(The Pixies)
We Fell
Big
Talk You Down
7 (Catfish and the Bottlemen)
Selfish
12
Corrupt You

Videos