Gig Reviews
Gig Review - Blues Bar Harrogate - 30th November 2006
This gig is both the end of the band's mini tour November '06 tour and also their last gig of the year and what a way to finish. The core band take to the stage one by one against the sampled backdrop of 'Busted' whilst the five piece brass section (far left above) stand on a bench and line the side wall of the packed venue. 'Busted' proper kicks in and the sound is fantastic. It sounds naff and clichéd but the crowd do go wild.
The size of the venue only adds to the atmosphere and the boys are on form as they crack through the first half of the set to rapturous applause. There's 'Stay With Me' and 'Stella' and 'Plan C' and I'm sure I've forgotten a few and they are all different but somehow connect if you know what I mean?
The last song in the first of two sets give The Side Effects a chance to promote the awesome new single "(I Didn't Mean to Sleep With Your) Girlfriend". The fans love this song and like most of the band members they never know what to expect as two live versions are never the same. Matt (pictured top left), now the band's second vocalist as well as ace percussionist, has grown in stature as the tour has progressed. Tonight he reigns supreme over the crowd as along with Jonny (top right) he tells the twistedly hilarious tale of a girlfriend shared. And the band's famous samples win out with a few new tricks that only add to the sound and the mayhem (if you were there you'll know what I mean - if not I won't spoil it case the band use them again...). Anyway the first half ends with a rush of CD sales as the best value eighteen minutes of pop since I don't know when gets snapped up by a willing crowd of hands holding cash.
The second half starts off as good as the first with 'Listen to Me' kicking things off and the band playing their best live version yet of 'Drunk on Demand'. I watch on with a glass in my hand and can't but envy the variety that this band can offer. From the quirky pop of 'Forget Me Not' to the mixed rock'n'reggae of 'Perfect Town' to the blinding finale of 'The Band Made Big' and then we're on to the encores. Jonny gives the crowd a choice - and they opt for 'Meant to Be' and the band give the crowd the gospel according to The Side Effects and it is good - very good.
Its chaotic but classy and then the band are trying to come off the stage but the crowd won't let them and demand 'Girlfriend' again so the sax guys and Joe the trumpet climb back up onto their bench and the second time round the song is still a blast and still different with even an impromptu ending at the end (where else would it be) but then it is finally over. Its been a great night and the crowd of fans old and new have a few more stories to tell their mates - I'd just say come along next time and see this band. In conversation with Simon, the boss of the Blues Bar, he confirms my feelings - "People were coming in who'd never seen the band and just saying 'Wow! We've never seen anything like it!' - and they're right". Like Simon I'd seen the band and lots of others many times and I knew he was right.
Harvey, November 2006.
Gig Review - Galtres Festival York - 23rd September 2006
Sax and beer and rock'n'roll...
50 different barrels of beer, a Gruffalo and The Side Effects all in one place. And for the very first time tonight the band are accompanied by special guests Harrogate based Unisax on all four shades of sax. New boy Joe on trumpet completes a massive ten man stage line-up. The old sound was good but will the new sound be greater? You don't have to be a Churchill dog to know the answer...
By the time the band takes to the stage it's late into the evening of Galtres 2006 and the event at Sutton Park has already been a fantastically successful day. Pumped up by two of the best drugs known to man - beer and playing live - the band blaze into a fantastically brassy version of regular opener 'Listen to Me' and the crowd quite rightly go mad. Next song 'Busted' is dedicated to the event's stage and sound guru, Dean St John, unfortunately by now back at home nursing a broken ankle and a can of John Smiths. The sax and trumpet combo take the song, always a crowd favourite, to new heights tonight. The dancing in front of the band gets wilder.
Would be / should be hit after hit follows at a pace. The Unisax guys swap their brass for various percussive instruments and 'Stay With Me' files along even faster than usual. The set whirls on into 'Forget Me Not'. Look I know everyone raves about 'Girlfriend" but 'FMN' is in a quirky class of its own - and of course tonight Jonny ad-libs the lyrics around the festival and the dancers in front of him and they love it. Talking of 'Girlfriend' the band have the audacity not to play their most famous (infamous even) song. Instead Joe's trumpet takes centre stage as 'Plan C' gets a whole new dimension.
It seems they've only been on stage for a few short minutes (it was actually 45) when Jonny announces that 'The Band Made Big' will be the last song. The brass guys are back now playing their horns and the sound is just right (well done Tornear on the mixing desk). The Side Effects have been described as punked up funk and that's spot on now as the song is played with a rare energy equalled only by the sea of writhing bodies in front of the stage. The verses and choruses fly by until the percussion break - Jimmy B with the rhythm, Jonny on snare, Matt on djembe, everyone on something. Then the whole band kick back in and by the end virtually every member of the band has taken a turn in the spotlight with Jimmy's drums and Tony's bass providing the backing.
They've had great gigs before but the noise from the crowd tonight is tremendous. As they try to leave the stage they're forced back on for a final encore and its 'Meant to Be'. The song has been given a bit of a makeover and has a revised structure but the style of the song is business as usual - I'd describe it as punked up gospel! The slow gospel verse is followed by the manic chorus and the band and audience madly jig for all their worth. Jonny climaxes the song and set by ordering out instructions (sit down, stand up, sit down) to the crowd which they drunkenly laughingly try to follow. By the time the epic final chords ring out, the noise is even louder and the band have won over another new set of fans.
You can see the band have loved it too by the look on their faces. They greet their hard core travelling support on the way to the beer tent. Galtres 2006 has been a great day both for the festival and The Side Effects. Whereas 2005 established them both 2006 has seen each emerge as festival favourites with Galtres attendances at a new record high and The Side Effects headlining FEVA and stealing much of the show at Galtres. Next stop for the band is the November mini-tour but not before a few more beers tonight.
Clarence, Virtual Tad, September 2006.
Gig Review - Certificate 18 York - 30th December 2005
"New Year's Eve Eve in York - if you can make it here you can make it anywhere? This gig sees the end to a busy first year for The Side Effects and sees the band completing their Girlfriend Mini Tour with a debut performance at the Certificate 18 venue headlining a four act Friday night show. After support from the likes of Ironic and Kicking Valentino its a late start for The Side Effects who are playing a cut down set to fit in with the bill.
The headliners took the stage but they did not disappoint. I've seen most if not all of their gigs to date and this rates in the top two or three. The word 'awesome' is somewhat overused these days but this performance was just that. Playing without monitors after a recent incident in the venue The Side Effects blew the place apart playing the core of their Plan C debut album set (the band are taking to the studio in the New Year to complete initial recordings) in what in a few years may form part of a future greatest hits compilation - I for one would buy it.
Front man, Jonny, took an executive decision to dispense with the scheduled sample and intro to first song 'Listen to Me' saying that the audience of loyal travelling fans and new ones too had waited long enough. He was right of course and the song and venue rocked. Jonny rocked too and swayed and played with the audience - this guy is a star in the making. The next song, 'Busted' (a tale of band split-up - no not that Busted), was flawless and as this was the Girlfriend mini tour how could they not play 'Girlfriend'? Enough has been said about this song elsewhere already but Jonny and Chris's ad-libbed verses and links reached new heights tonight. This wasn't a morose band playing same sounding guitars looking at the floor - this was a show and of the highest quality.
The band then played 'Stay With Me' at even a higher tempo than usual driven along by the band's percussion instrumentalists and it wasn't long before another highlight 'Forget Me Not'. This is a great song and the sound out front showed the benefits from the investment in the "sound man" to enable the mix to be tinkered and tailored and be taken up and down through the myriad of changes in this and the other songs as The Side Effects move from rock to funk to new wave and with new song 'Meant to Be' even gospel!
It seemed too soon but the band were almost done playing firm live favourite 'Plan C' to perfection before 'The Band Made Big' finale. A word here for Matt, the band's newest recruit - the percussion build up between Matt and Jonny (who had by now swapped alternating between guitar, keyboards and the kitchen sink for a snare) during the middle 8 was brilliant. The link from this to the all guitars blazing finale was fantastic and the show was almost over. The band had planned to finish on 'The Band Made Big' but with the audience still cheering Jonny once again made the right decision - quite a few people had travelled a long way through snow and ice to get to this gig and they deserved a final encore and they got it. Jonny announced to the band that they were playing 'Meant to Be' and they did too. This is a relatively new song and another five minutes of pure show and performance before the band finally left the stage for the night after another great show to once again critical acclaim from the people in the know, including venue manager, sound man and promoter. This band is going places - to paraphrase the title track of the album - The Side Effects - 2005 was good but 2006 is going to be greater."
Artspace Magazine, January 2006 issue.
Gig Review - Blues Bar Harrogate - 25th July 2005
"Has Harrogate (or anywhere for that matter) experienced many Monday nights like this one? A new band playing their debut gig so no surprise at the graveyard slot but what a band, what a crowd and what a performance.
After the intro sample the first couple of songs kicked in with the funky 'Listen to Me' and 'Busted' - and I was starting to get a good feeling about this band. From the moment Petch and Jonny took centre stage on '(I Didn't Mean to Sleep with Your) Girlfriend' though it was something else and the packed venue went crazy. I know the band are working on an album but this song has got 'SINGLE' written right through it. The music is great but that's just the backdrop - you must listen to the lyrics - I defy anyone not to hear that song and laugh out loud during it and smile at the memories for a long time after.
But this is not a comedy band. They immediately take you back down with the more jangly 'Obscurity' only to get you rocking again through to the end the first half of the set with something totally different again in 'Life Is A Movie' - the lyrics may be reflective but the music bounces off the walls as the volume hits 11. As the guys downed a well deserved beer or two I looked around the packed Blues Bar - this was a band who had attracted quite a varying audience which is rare these days but the feel-good atmosphere was to be savoured. It even spilled into the street as quite a few people tried to get some air before the band was back on stage.
The second half kicked off with 'Stella' and 'Stay With Me', the former being as near a ballad as the band got to with the keyboards and synths leading the way at times. Once again both songs are different to the rest of the material and to what other bands are playing - marking out The Side Effects as something different too with the different styles blending together perfectly. This was confirmed by a song that Simon from the Blues Bar really rates called 'Forget Me Not' or 'Girl With the Auburn Hair' depending on who you ask. The half spoken verses are in marked contrast to the great melody of the chorus and Richard's guitar solos. The crowd agreed with Simon and at the end of the song roared their approval which was met by the Self Preservation Society intro sample for 'Plan C'. This is another great song and gave Petch the opportunity to show that this band has two genuinely talented lead guitarists in their midst as well as a fine rhythm section. At times it is the drums and bass that drive the band on, just as it should be. Richards and Jagger turn up looking for royalties during the next song 'Fame' but can't get in the place as its so packed as the band near the climax of the set with 'Perfect Town' which takes you from reggae to rock to I don't know what all in five minutes. The set is finished off with an absolute classic 'The Band Made Big' - I love this song - my personal fave of the night - and I don't think the band could have played it any better as Jonny milked the audience for all they were worth (and it was a lot!).
And so the set ended but the crowd bayed for more - and they got it - a raucous one hundred mile an hour repeat of 'Girlfriend'. I think the band would not have got out alive if they'd played anything else. It was just as good second time around - and I thought once again that this is a single, it has to be.
So it was after eleven and I was out on the streets of Harrogate. I went home smiling and so did the rest of the crowd. The Blues Bar is a great place and you know on nights like this that Harrogate has a jewel of a venue. And a jewel of a band as well - if you weren't there catch the one of next gigs as this band is something very different and very special."
Harvey, July 2005.