KEYNESTOCK 2011 – EVENT

Huh! Students today. They don’t know they’re born.

When I was a lad we had to put up with a graduation ball featuring a lame Frank Sinatra tribute act, an awful casino where you couldn’t actually bet any real money (probably a good thing, come to think of it) and a questionable hoopla stall where I won a dodgy looking bottle of “champagne” which was actually made from fermented pears. It remains, gathering dust in the corner of a cupboard somewhere or other.

By contrast in May 2011, The University of Kent, Canterbury has something else to offer: a selection of the finest bands a university could produce (there’s been auditions and everything) and not a dodgy Frank Sinatra look-alike in sight.

Keynestock is an annual music festival cum talent competition which has been running in Keynes College for the last 20 years or so. Alumni from the event include Ellie Goulding. I wonder what she’s doing now.

The event is a key part of the student calendar here with bands and acts from the university competing each year for a much coveted place in the line up. This is the Brits/Mercury/Grammy awards of the student goldfish bowl and everyone wants a piece of it.

Today’s event will feature acts profiling a wide variety of genres from the singer-songwriter talents of Carrie T-G to the thundering heavy metal sounds of Shatterpoint by way of indie contributions from Tigerwolf, Loaded Pistolas and Favela and R’n’B soul from Katerina and the Midnight Blue and De Art of Music. Hey, there’s even a 1950s style Rock and Roll act, Tommy and the Guns.

Keyenstock’s headliners will be History of the Trade, last year’s winners. They’re here to promote their new EP, reviewed elsewhere on these pages, and revel in the fun of the festival. It should be a very good day.

 

CARRIE T-G

First up is Carrie T-G, who arrives on stage armed only with her acoustic guitar. Her set consists of a mix of crowd pleasing covers (4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up” and The Eagles’ “Hotel California” go down particularly well) and exquisite original material.

While she is in the competition with an eye on the prize, Carrie T-G (that’s short for Turner-Gould, by the way) knows what she should be doing as the first act on stage today: getting people into the party spirit. And she does it well with the covers.

But it’s in her own songs that she really shines. “Promises” and “Helplessly” are both beautiful crafted affairs with a gently plucked guitar underscoring some disarmingly beautiful, reflective songs. Think Alanis Morissette or, if you’re keen to think more locally, think Jo Hook. Fantastic stuff.

 

 

FAVELA

The next band up are Favela who stir the crowd into an immediate frenzy with a big rocking blues number. It’s only their second gig (their first was the audition for Keynestock), but they perform like they’re old hands at this game.

As the set goes on, the blues influences diminishes, but does not entirely retreat. In fact, it won’t really go away for the rest of the day. Here, it’s joined by a mix of funk, courtesy of a well used wah-wah pedal, a hint of reggae and Arctic Monkeys-ish indie.

The audience love them. In fact one member loves them so much that, despite them being a fairly new band, she’s crafted for herself an “I love Favela” T-shirt.

 

 

KATERINA AND THE MIDNIGHT BLUE

Things take a slightly different turn with the following band. Katerina and the Midnight Blue are an R’n’B/soul pop act with a variety of covers and original songs. Their version of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” goes down particularly well.

But as with Carrie T-G’s set, it’s the band’s original material, written by the eponymous Katerina, that sines the most. A shining example is the set’s final song “Not Worth It” where lead singer Katerina gets the crowd joining in by chanting “no no no no no no” until she’s satisfied everyone’s joining in. They seem to like it.

 

 

DE ART OF MUSIC

The soulful sound continues with the next act, De Art of Music. There’s a lot of hype about this band. Any question of “Who are you most looking forward to seeing?” or “Who did you like the best?” will generally be answered with this band’s name. And there’s lots of them. Eight to be precise, what with backing singers, guitarists and drums and all the rest of it.

Again, it’s a mixture of covers (Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” and even a super funked up version of the “Inspector Gadget” theme tune if you will) along with original songs such as “So Amazing”. It’s an impressive blend of funk and soul with an urban indie sound. And the crowd can’t get enough of it.

 

 

SHATTERPOINT

Shatterpoint take things in a completely different direction yet again. This time the audience is plunged into the dark, sweaty underbelly of heavy metal. But, just as with Favela and Katerina and the Midnight Blue, there’s a lot of blues to be found here as well. In this case, it’s thick and dirty blues. And it’s fantastic.

Ed Stone, the vocalist with the band admits on stage that the band were concerned they wouldn’t go down well, surrounded as they are in the schedule by pop and indie acts. They couldn’t have been more wrong. Everyone, including the bloke in the magnificent mohican style beanie hat, loves it.

Stone takes to the microphone eschewing the theatricality usually reserved for the genre. He conveys more with the single, confident nod of his head than most front men would achieve with several minutes of head banging. It says, quite simply: “Yes. This is some of the most impressive heavy rock your ears will ever have the privilege to be deafened by. We know this. You know this. Let’s get on with it.”

The barbed wire vocals, the pounding drums and the guitar that looks like it was crafted in the very depths of Hell itself are spot on. Songs like “Dance of the Dead” and finale “Train Wreck” rip the place to tiny shreds, with moshing and crowd members bashing into one another something of an inevitability.

This is a fantastic set – and, sadly, bass player Sandy Wardrop’s last gig. But with an album, “Memoirs of a Maker” out soon, his contribution will still be heard. This fan for one is looking forward to it.

 

 

TIGERWOLF

Next up comes Tigerwolf and a collection of standard noughties indie songs which owe much to The Maccabees. It’s heavy on the wire-y guitar sound and a semi-sung, semi-spoken, not quite either vocal over the top.

The songs are about the band’s experiences at university and problems with women: “I always make the same mistakes”, runs one lyric over the melody of something that wouldn’t be too out of place on the soundtrack to Gavin and Stacey.

 

 

LOADED PISTOLAS

Following Tigerwolf comes another indie band, Loaded Pistolas who tell me they sound like The Stereophonics. It’s a bit of a red herring. They’re nothing like Kelly Jones and co. The introduction to their opening song could be a classic rock tune from the days of Led Zeppelin and friends. You could imagine it being used as an alternative to the Top Gear tune. And I can’t really see a Stereophonics track doing that.

As with Favela, this is the band’s second outing. But it’s a tight set that’s going down a storm which is reflected in lead singer Lonnie Storey’s rather restrained proclamation “I’m having such a lovely time”. Songs like “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”, “Underground” (no, not a Ben Folds Five cover) and “Bodystorm” get the good folk of the University of Kent rocking – most of whom seem to have the band’s name written across their foreheads.

 

 

TOMMY AND THE GUNS

And then it’s time for the last band of the contest: the brilliantly named Tommy and the Guns. The band are unusual in that rather than seeking inspiration from The Maccabees, Arctic Monkeys or anyone this side of 1974, have decided to take things back to the days of Bill Haley and the Comets and Lonnie Donnegan. Tommy and the Guns are an old school rock and roll act whose original material is indistinguishable from the classic songs they cover.

It would be easy to think that “Forget About Your Love” or “High Class Jezebel” were written at the same time as “Shake, Rattle and Roll”. The fact that almost 60 years separates them seems rather bewildering. Bewildering, but rather fantastic. And the crowd – the rather inebriated crowd, by this point – absolutely love it.

 

 

HISTORY OF THE TRADE

The final band of the day are History of the Trade, last year’s winners. If the awaiting mass of students expect them to sound anything like the Black Eyed Peas who are pumping on the sound system before the band appear, they’ll be in for a shock.

After a delay thanks to endless sound checks and general faffing, History of the Trade arrive on stage, one by one, building up the sound as they go. They are true to their immense form: a complicated math rock sound full of complex drum patterns, discordant guitars, meandering vocals and frequent changes in the tune’s direction.

It’s a triumphant home coming for the band with Oli Cameron regularly mounting the monitors, guitar in hand, king of all he surveys. It’s a mesmerising performance. A fantastic end to a great day.

All that is left is the announcement that De Art of Music are the entirely deserving winners of the competition. Long rock Keynestock.

 

Photos by Richard Grebby: http://www.richardgrebby.co.uk/

 

Disclaimer: All comments and opinions are those of the writer.

 

28/05/2011 • Keynestock 2011

By Stephen Morris • Photos by Richard Grebby (http://www.richardgrebby.co.uk/)

7 Responses to “KEYNESTOCK 2011 – EVENT”

1. 

   Posted by: Christian
   On May 29th, 2011 at 10:24 pm

   Great review! Sorry about faffing, unfortunately brass and a synth takes a lot of extra time line checking but great day none the less

2. 

   Posted by: T Johnson
   On May 30th, 2011 at 2:37 am

   We saw all the acts on Saturday but had to leave early. We were all absolutely blown away by Tommy and the Guns. What a breath of fresh air. Did they win (we are all sure they would).

3. 

   Posted by: T Jacobs
   On May 30th, 2011 at 11:25 am

   I agree Tommy and the Guns were outstanding. Great original material , good mix of Rock N Roll and Blues. So entertaining !

4. 

   Posted by: The Bird Dogs
   On May 30th, 2011 at 3:22 pm

   From a fellow band watching the show have to say that Tommy and the Guns should have won! Absolutely brilliant covers and originals. Don’t agree that ‘De’ art of music should have won, worst band all day in my opinion.

5. 

   Posted by: Graham Petty
   On May 31st, 2011 at 3:55 pm

   tommy and the guns were so cliche. thank goodness for bands like de art of music bringing a new flair to the scene. really enjoyed the final band too!!

6. 

   Posted by: Sarah Louise
   On June 1st, 2011 at 12:10 pm

   I completely disagree! whilst tommy and the guns were good for what they were, they had no real edge. Having been coming to Keynestock for the last 3 years I have to say the line up for this year was epic! there were so many good bands and such versatility! I hate going to festivals and hearing the same thing over and over again, how limited do they think our knowledge of music is? If you love and truly understand music, genre isn’t an issue, when a band is good they are good…some people like cliche…some people appreciate good/real music, thank goodness the judges know the difference. Tommy and the guns were good but de art of music totally deserved to win

7. 

   Posted by: Michael Burns
   On June 5th, 2011 at 6:20 pm

   Wasn’t there for the whole day, had to keep coming and going, managed to catch both de art of music’s and tommy and the guns’ sets as well as a few others. Obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but i don’t agree with those stressed above, from the bands i have seen recently I thought that de art of music are pretty similar to the majority of bands in todays music scene. Tommy and the Guns were interested because they did something very different to anything I heard all day, or in a long time for that matter. They took it back and it was very refreshing to see something so different. Best guitarist that i have seen in a long time too, very good solos all day long

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