Musicosity Festival – Not Advised/Canada Water/Checking Pulse/We Start Partys/Let’s Go Safari

Old Fire Station, Bournemouth

Well this is my first review in a while! And what a way to come back to reviewing since returning from Reading Festival, as The Old Fire Station hosted one of the main events at The Musicosity Festival on the Sunday. Sadly, Fridays line-up received a small crowd of around twenty five people according to sources I was told, but I was determined the atmosphere would pick up after Not Advised’s last visit to Bournemouth resulted in a sell-out iBar show. The Southampton based pop punk outfit will have been brimming with confidence as the last crowd they had were more than happy to sing along and get moving.

I must give my apologies to Let’s Go Safari who I missed due to arriving later than expected. Starting off my night of pop punk dominance was Brighton based band, Hero. At first, they don’t seem like anything more than your typical female led pop punk band, which was probably due to the fairly small crowd being as stagnant as an abandoned pond. Luckily their penultimate track struck me as something pretty special. Their front woman’s vocals were almost perfect, with her tones varying pitch to fit a synth fuelled backing track.

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Up next were Bristol based electro pop band We Start Partys, unfortunately, I arrived midway through their set but from what I witnessed I can honestly say I was blown away. A combination of front man Ben Hawthornes hair and the intense strobe lighting dazzled the eyes of the audience, as an intensely energetic vibe was transferred from the stage into the audience. Unfortunately, few people were able to feel this vibe as the majority of the audience were suffering from “I’d prefer to sit down” syndrome. A highly enjoyable set from this band, and whether it’s their up tempo originals or their dub step medley, this band are sure to get you moving.

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Next up were home grown talents Checking Pulse who have earned themselves a loyal fan base over the years. They were the only band in the line-up tonight who supported Not Advised the last time they played Bournemouth and it was obvious that they were up for performing after a strong set last time round. A mixture of catchy hooks and edgy guitar riffs kept the crowd’s attention with ease and front woman, Emily has a likeability factor to her with her excellent use of an auto tune vocal effect. You may be thinking the same as me in the way that auto tune has ruined our generation’s music, but the use here only benefits the synth pop sound this band pump out. There’s no doubt that this band will continue to flourish, but taking a step up will be on their minds for the rest of the year.

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Main support for the night comes in the form of home grown Canada Water who hadn’t played a show before tonight in quite a while, but they didn’t let it show tonight. With Amy Can Flyys drummer standing in for George, you could have been worried that tonight could have been a catastrophe. You would be wrong, from the first chords, the band show off just how strong their pop punk sound is, with opening song ‘Departures’ ringing round the room with some of the crowd singing along excitedly. The band sadly didn’t help themselves as the politics of the evening got the better of their front man as the debate about the reduced ‘on the door’ ticket price for the night clearly flicked a switch in the wrong place for him. Nonetheless, ‘Graduate in Getting By’ and ‘Femme Fatale’ continue to demonstrate the strength of their originals with synth hooks complimenting the surging pop punk riffs this band produces. Their stand in drummer does a fantastic job and you could be mistaken that he was in the band from the beginning, but to be fair he is part of one of Bournemouth’s most successful bands, so talent probably overcomes that. Brand new song, ‘Better Half of Me’ demonstrates a more poppy side to the band with the bass driven backing track booming along with the thundering drumming and distinguishable vocal qualities of the band. Ending with ‘It’s Petty Theft Bessie’, I pray that this band gets up and gets gigging like there’s no tomorrow if they have the chance. A thoroughly practiced Canada Water could be Bournemouth’s next big thing.

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Not Advised’s last visit to Bournemouth was one they probably won’t forget, but tonight sadly won’t have the same effect. This is simply due to a small crowd which barely achieved anything more than occasionally, lethargically head banging. Luckily, performance wise, Not Advised are bang on with the difference between their last visit here being that the PA was good enough to expose their true quality as a band. The first glimmer of hope for the morbid crowd was when their front man brought the crowd members near the back forward and had them singing along to wonder track ‘Jane Says Left’. The band are set to release their debut full length album early next year and after playing new track ‘Good News’, there will be a lot to smile about once the record is out there. The band end triumphantly on crowd favourites ‘Right Now’ and ‘The World’s Not Ready’, with a shared response from the audience that big things await this band in 2012. If you have any sense, you will buy their mini album ‘After The Fight’ which is one of the best pop punk records you will hear (in my opinion!).

Set Lists
Not Advised
The WInner
The A.R.K
Jane Says Left
All I Need
The Hope Killed The Hype
Good News
Right Now
The Worlds Not Ready

Canada Water
Departures
Better Half Of Me
Graduate In Getting By
A Brief History Of Cinema
Femme Fatale
“It’s Petty Theft, Bessie”

Checking Pulse
7 years bad luck
Falling
This game
Firework
Mistake
Turn out the lights
Aimee
Best girl

We Start Partys
Promises (Nero – Skrillex Remix)
All We’ve Got (We Start Partys)
Raise your Glass (Pink)
DJ (Alphabet)
Meet Me On The Dancefloor (We Start Partys)
Moves Like Jagger (Maroon 5)
Louder (DJ Fresh)
Rock It (Subfocus)
Drop it Like Its Hot (Snoop Dogg)
Seasons (We Start Partys)
Make Tonight (We Start Partys)

Videos
We Start Partys