Audioweb

Olive are a six-piece of relative unknowns to me and it's not too difficult to see why. Credit where credits due, but this isn't really my kind of thing. Tonight they performed a relatively strong set of laid bad soul-edged grooves, and they're certainly talented, but at times they ended up sounding rather too much like M-People when they may have been aiming at Portishead. The songs themselves were awash with lush sounds but really lacked an element to take the lead alongside the vocal - the guitar, keyboard and loops mixing together to produce a mostly flat and uninteresting background for the melody. There were a couple of occasions where the attempted mix paid off, most notabley on the forthcoming single "Miracle", where the muddle of rhythms did manage to from themselves into something more slick and sassy.
Not to worry (two) greater things were to come...

The inclusion of Republica on the bill tonight proved to be a real magnet for people such as myself. We have been hearing great gossip about them in England but, until now, comparatively few records. It's true that their arrival back home has been a little low-key, but on the evidence of tonights show there's little reason why they can't take the British music scene by storm to the same level they have in America. The band performed with all the confidence their success overseas has afforded them, delivering a pacey, tight set of their dance/pop/rock songs. They also have in theor midst a true rock starlet in the form of lead singer Saffron, looking the perfect part in leather trousers, slim-fit "Rock'n'Roll" t-shirt and red streaked hair.
Opening with the energy blast that is "Drop Dead Gorgeous" the scene was set for the rest of the set. Despite gathering with such anticipation the crowd were not so immediate in their reaction, as if not quite sure if the pace could be kept up. Following up with the debut single "Bloke" ought to have brought a greater reaction, but the set was gathering momentum and the core of pogoing kids front and centre began to spread.
More of the same quality tunes followed and the reaction from the crowd grew with singer Saffron's confidence, but it wasn't until they were two-thirds of they way through and launched into current single "Ready to Go" that the real mayhem began. As the first few chords rang out a hundred pairs of ears pricked up and the mosh pit erupted with new energy. Such a response gave new life to the band, with Saffron proclaiming with her broadest grin that the reaction had made her night.
The show was over all too quickly after that, the band should be cursing themselves for not playing "Ready to Go" earlier. But what tonight has proved is that the two singles they've given us so far are by no means the best tunes they can come up with. Republica have a lot to offer and with patience they certainly can rise to the top.

Whether Audioweb were the reason people came to this gig or whether the energy within the crowd simply carried over was difficult to tell at first. The response was immediate, and it was soon proved that where Audioweb may be lacking something on record they make up for in excess in their live show! The feeling of their powerful rhythm led dub reggae/rock crossover is delivered with much greater passion from the stage. This straight away caught on with the audience and anyone standing anywhere near the stage couldn't help but be caught up in the dancing, moshing, corwd-surfing mass. The musical power coming off the stage was matched by lead singer Martin Merchant. He's a big guy by any standards but onstage he owns the place and his presence is nothing short of huge! He has as much to say in his continual between-song rants as he does in his lyrics and with such a booming voice he'll make sure you hear it! He opened by thanking Republica for their support before proceeding to blow away the memory of their show with Audioweb's own performance. The £2.50 ticket fee for tonight, as Martin so rightly pointed out, was an absolute bargain (Audioweb finally managed to crash into the UK top 20 recently, and with Republica soon to follow the touts reacted accordingly. outside the doors tickets were changing hands for £10 - £15).
The songs tonight fused together into one huge slab of Rock giving us no time to pause for breath. Before long we were treated to, according to Martin, "The second greatest single of '96" in the form of "Into My World", and shortly after came his "greatest", "Sleeper", it's monster rock guitar riff ringing out and sending the crowd completely mental. Though we'd already thought them fantastic soon after they began the gig was gathering momentum and continued right into the double-take blasted finale of "Bankrobber", which may have been a borowed tune but Audioweb own it now. We couldn't have asked for a better end.
After a time on the outskirts, Audioweb have well and truly arrived now. Watch this space, this band are huge and coming your way, don't miss them!

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