Extra Life with Girls Names @ The Crescent Arts Centre – 6/6/2010

June 16, 2010 No Comments

After walking past Lavery’s Bunker several times, I truly thought I would never find the newly refurbished Crescents Art Centre. Finding myself lost, I resorted to buying something from the Spar I didn’t need, just so I could ask the sales assistant for directions. The guy was friendly but seemed quite amused by my question. It was only when I turned around to find the Crescent Arts Centre sitting directly across the road, I realised why it seemed so humorous. Well embarrassment over – now I knew where the venue was.

First up were a three-piece noise pop band from Belfast consisting of Cathal, Neil and Claire. Girls Names may not weren’t quite the life and soul of the gig as one fan in particular put more effort into her dancing than the band or anyone else but they still put on a good show; playing some great music from their EP, ‘Captured’, but with a severe lack of stage presence.

With an audience of about 25 in total (This was the Crescent Arts Centre’s first event as a gig venue) and everyone dressed in clothes belonging in a bygone century, there was definitely a certain charm surrounding the group of people present. They performed brilliant tunes and were of a high quality live, although a lot of their songs sounded similar.

With singer/ guitarist, Cathal, breaking a string very near the end of the set, he continued to play on and didn’t seem affected by it – true professional – and then finished in style by throwing the guitar to the ground in a burst or energy (The WHO style!), a great climax for a band who clearly have potential but need to find a little more confidence.

Being on a one-month tour from their homeland of America, Extra Life were five days away from the end and not showing any signs of tiredness or fatigue. They put on a very solid performance of their genre hopping songs, from heavy outbursts, to acoustic numbers, to avant-garde ballads and even the odd doom like noises, all ringing out through the Crescent Arts Centre hall.

Experimental is definitely one way to define the show that was witnessed by the small but enthused crowd. They started off with an acoustic song, feeding into a heavier sound, with very unique vocals, which were a treat to be heard.

They performed song after song with differing time signatures and speeds, with the violinist (clearly a talented individual), changing his playing method from with a bow to without, like a small acoustic guitar with a unique sound.

With crashing drums and a heavy bass it was a sound I found myself getting really into. Everyone in the band is clearly very passionate about the music they play and were all absorbed in their instruments.

The set they played was engaging and diverse, with some songs seeming to merge into the next; misleading me into thinking they had less songs than they did.

For the show that was put on, they definitely deserved to have a bigger crowd, as they were tight, entertaining and consistently good throughout the night.

By Laura Rose-McBride and Ryan Blakeley

Some of the crowds’ comments about Girl’s names performance:

“Audience seemed to enjoy it more than the band”
“Enjoyed them alot!”

Claire (Girl’s Names bassist) commented:

“There was no one here, nah I liked it, Cathal Slamming the guitar was a dare by the way, he’s not actually aggressive”

Some of the crowds comments about Extra Life:

“Unbelievable, amazing”

“I thought it would be better live, but it wasn’t what I expected, still a good show though”

“ Very good, definitely will listen to them again”

Reviews