The Beaus, Ego Parade, The Three Torches, Nenu Kubu at Vintage Rockbar, Doncaster, 30th March

Tonight as Doncaster’s fourth music venue opens there’s a lot at stake. Vintage Rockbar is not only competing against the likes of The Leopard and The Priory but also faces the impending doom of its location which has been the victim of various bar enterprises over the years.

However tonight, as the owners invite customers with a free gig, all appears to be going well for the bar. The place is freshly painted with an air of mustard yellow as downstairs Nenu Kubu kick off a roll call of local acts. They do start the evening off to a rumbling start but despite the lead singer dressing like he has stepped straight out of a fashion catalogue, Nenu Kubu are disappointing. The vocals are too loud (the first of continuous sound trouble all night) and as the lead singer fails to move in the slightest to his band mates Bravery-esque beat, the crowd are unexcited.

The same is also to be said of The Three Torches, who again suffer sound troubles causing their set to be halted on various occasions, however this time the crowd do not falter at either result. The strenuous vocals and bland guitars fails to reach anyone in the room, concluding in a rather talkative twenty minutes.

However Ego Parade, the pulling power behind tonight’s opening manage to grab the crowd’s attention. Beginning with ‘The Unbelievable Truth’ the band instantly present what the previous bands tonight lacked on stage as lead singer Liam takes over. Yet he doesn’t grace the limelight completely as the other members all squeeze onto the tiny stage thrashing around as they compete for attention, and still, through the spotlight of tonight’s new venue many appear to have forgotten about the new bassist in the band. Not a word is said, and apart from a few flailing arms he slots perfectly into place, hell the bass is even cranked up to announce his arrival. And as the band move into a few unknown songs they still manage to keep the crowd interested, despite each sounding a little too similar to the last, as they finish on a bounding rendition of ‘Circus Remnants’.

So much so that most of the crowd have forgotten about headliners of the night The Beaus who played to either a, drunk or exhausted crowd. With most audience members plodding over to the Priory for a second stint The Beaus look like they’ve given up the fight before they’ve even began. The lead singer is Donny Tourette (there’s no question about it) and while the rest of the band try to bring a little excitement into the act the audience’s now short attention span turns to the two heavy metal fans in the room who insist on dancing like maniacs to the awful 2-tone accompaniment.
Note to The Beaus, if the crowd are the most interesting part of your act, you’ve got problems.

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulotronics