Musical scariness Last night I and the delightful Steve headed off to see Andy and Alan performing as the two-piece Astariel at the Pleasure Unit in the eeeast end, in Bethnal Green. After some difficulty in finding the venue (Bethnal Green Road is quite a long stretch indeed), we arrived at the pub, with it's peeling laminate floor and retro light fittings, and surprisingly expensive bar. Thankfully, Astariel had not started their slot, but I must admit there was not much time left for pre-set tittle-tattle (note: remember to write down address of mystery venues in future).

They played a half-hour (I think) set, in which Alan made a strong stage impression strutting about as singer (think David Bowie kinda thing here) in frilly shirt and long coat. Andy, with his hat and dark suit, provided back-up on guitar, which, alas, for unknown reasons refused to co-operate for the last bit of the song. Well done those men!

Following Astariel were Casa Electro Novo: one man and his laptop, occasional guitar and sunglasses. Energetic was one of the adjectives that sprung to mind to describe this set, followed by scary. This snake-skin effect suit-wearing man liked to strut, pout, and wear different sunglasses for each song, often leaving the stage (he brought his own, radio mic, oh yes, to allow himself to roam) to do backflips (once he cartwheeled off the stage, still singing in time, and possibly in tune) and to sing at members of the audience and skip along the top of the bar. Startling doesn't begin to describe it.

A surprise evening indeed, and at the point we decided it best to leave and made our ways to our homes. There was another band on after, but we didn't hang around to see what delights they would serve up. Reportedly, their soundcheck didn't give anyone confidence in their ability to perform sonic niceties.

Posted: 19-08-05 00:19 :: Permalink: http://ben.corale.co.uk/archive/v1/196.html

Comments Be the first to comment: use the form below to post now!