431 DARK STAR, MY VITRIOL, Bristol Fleece, Thursday 9 March 2000

2000 has been a slow starter for gigs - we're in March and only 2 thus far! - but here's where it starts getting hectic! Rachel, Ady and I hit the Fleece at 8.15 after Ady had picked us up on time! My Vitriol joined us onstage at 8.45 and immediately rolled into a squalling feedback noise which dovetailed splendidly into a splendid Grant Hart/ Husker Du-like opener, "Always". The subsequent set featured raw angst, inspiration, excitement and some splendid hooks, all played at a fast and frantic pace. I'd decided to check them out thanks to a very positive NME "On Band" write-up by Stevie Chick, currently my favourite hack (following on from Steve Lamacq!), and I certainly wasn't disappointed. Reminding me a little of the likes of 5.30 and Annie Christian, as well as the Husker Du/ Foo Fighters school of tuneful fast Yank rock, this is a band with undoubted and great potential - and a band in a hurry. I'll be doing my best to catch up with My Vitriol again - very soon!

Typical of Dark Star that the first time I see them headline, they should be blown off by their support! However, since their splendid Reading Festival set last year, they've gained an army of black-clad fans (the place was packed), and took to the by-now fairy light-festooned stage at 9.45, kicking off proceedings with their solitary fast-and-punky number, the excellent "I Am The Sun". Displaying a developing tightness and professionalism to augment their undoubted excellent musicianship, the rest of the set was again dark and moody, with angular rhythms (courtesy of the drummer - the undisputed star of the show tonight) and boneshaking bass both features. "Graceadelica", almost reminiscent of early Bunnymen with its' sense of space and introverted atmosphere, was tossed away early as the former Levitation boys put on a performance which, whilst not scaling the heights of their Reading set and also sagging a little in the mid-section, was still dark, mysterious and mighty fine. Dark Stars indeed!

But I'm up for a further dosage of My Vitriol, as soon as possible please!

489 MY VITRIOL, Mo-Ho-Bish-O-Pi, Thirteen:13, Bristol Fleece, Wednesday 28 February 2001

Sandwiched between all the Emetrex shows was this intriguing triple-header, featuring 2 of the most promising UK bands of the moment, plus a genuine wild card. So I persuaded Ady to drive, and myself, himself and Rachel set off early! This one was a sell-out and was already busy when we hit the Fleece at 8.30. Thirteen:13 were due on 15 minutes previously but were running late, so we had time to shoehorn ourselves over to the bar, get drinks and wade to the front before they came on.

Thirteen:13 are a bunch of optimistic young bucks with guitars in their hearts and melodic influences worn prominently on their sleeves. Thus, when they're sharp and poppy, like lovely harmonic single "Perfect Imperfection", they come across like early Teenage Fanclub arm-wrestling with bouncy Seattle popsters Super Deluxe, their set then varying from this touchingly melodic high to some reasonable but slightly dated sounding knockabout cheeky chappie Britpop. Nevertheless, considerably more good moments than bad from a band I'd happily pay to see in their own right.

Moving swiftly on afterwards were a frankly motley looking trio, our wild cards Mo-Ho-Bish-O-Pi. Wearing sun-visors with flashing lights, Hawaiian shirts and self-mutilated jeans, they looked as if they'd had some disagreements on image so decided to go with everyones' ideas! They immediately kicked into a smart, attention-grabbing set, full of some intelligently put together yet still dirty and self-consciously quirky glam thrashy pop. Shades of Chicago's finest, Number One Cup, mashed and clashed with other influences such as Glitterbox and Placebo to make for an intriguing noise, whilst they were visually dynamic, swapping instruments (except for the fretless bass player) and revealing some seriously freaky eye make-up!

Also well made-up was My Vitriol's vocalist Som Warner, whose liberal application of foundation and mascara was obvious. Significantly more obvious was the quantum leap forward this band have made since their nevertheless impressive Reading 2000 set. An instrumental opener, which sounded like the cracking of the Earth's crust (honestly!) segued effortlessly into a brilliant "Losing Touch", and I felt spookily as if I was watching one of the most significant British rock acts of the next 5 years. My Vitriol tonight were simply awesome; the power, focused aggression and primal yet perfectly articulated rock recalled Sugar, and I piled into the mosh with a strangely unreceptive crowd and showed them how to do it! My Vitriol have a shimmering substance to their music which also recalls Ride or The Pale Saints, with their segues and loops from one titanic slab of rock into the next. But most of all, this band knows how to rock, and seriously clean house whilst doing so. New (and heavily rotated on Radio 1) single "Always: Your Way" was awe-inspiring, a mightily anthemic yowl of a track. Great stuff from a band who surely are future Reading Festival headliners, if there's any justice. We'll be hearing a great deal more from My Vitriol!

499 FEEDER, MY VITRIOL, Nuclear Fish, Bristol Colston Hall, Tuesday 17 April 2001

Took a late call on this one as Rachel sorted out the loan of her dad's car for the night, so we hit the road at 6.30, motoring down to Bristol with the intention to go to this gig, but with a back up plan (Cosmic Rough Riders at the Fleece!) if this was a sell-out. Luckily, we joined a surprisingly long queue and got the last couple of balcony seats, getting in in time to catch first band, the excellently-named local lot Nuclear Fish, who peddled a fairly standard okay-ish guitar rock, including a cover of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" which went over the heads of most of the Feeder audience, comprised mainly of teenage girls! Did I take a wrong turn and end up at a Hockey International or what?

Anyway, we had My Vitriol to distract us from the squeaky hordes, and tonight's packed-out show was an opportunity to suss out how MV might handle the inevitable step-up to headliner status at this size of venue. I'm pleased to report that the lads (and lass) done great. Appearing onstage in a squall of exciting guitar noise, they immediately burst into primal roar mode with the thrilling "Losing Touch", and kept the foot on the loud pedal throughout. I'm not sure what the squeaking hordes made of their predilection for juxtaposing ethereal guitar shimmering and downright ear-splittingly evil rock, but I bloody loved it, and couldn't help but feel a swell of pride at how great this set was, how much it filled this cavernous venue to bulging point. Titanic single "Always: Your Way" was the highlight, before a tempo changing instrumental finale culminated in vocalist Som howling inarticulately into the mic and laying down the squalls of feedback to which they exited the stage. Their "Folk Song Crisis" perhaps?

Chilled out in the bar before taking our seats for headliners Feeder, passing MV guitarist Seth and having a few congratulatory words on the way. After the titanic noise of MV, Feeder were always onto a loser for me, and the 5 minutes after the lights went out that they kept us waiting for, before taking the stage, was a no-no as well. They gave it a real shot, however, and I confess I enjoyed them tonight. After dodgy tuneless beginnings (and dodgy boiler suits, back at Reading a few years back!) Feeder have evolved into a noisier Stereophonics with better tunes, and the attitude of mid-80's Bono from their obvious heroes and emulatees U2. Recent single "Buck Rogers", appropriating the same insistent guitar riff as the late lamented Julie Dolphin's "Birthday", was a goodie, and I also liked a few of the newies from forthcoming CD "Echo Park", but that was about it. They're OK, loud and fast, and I'd much rather the kids listen to Feeder than Eminem, but I'd prefer more invention and originality. Luckily, though, tonight we got that - in spades - from My Vitriol!

533 MY VITRIOL, SEAFOOD, Queen Adreena, Bristol University Anson Rooms, Friday 26 October 2001

Back to the old UK gig trail! And not a bad one in prospect either; we were humming and hahhing about this one before Seafood were announced as My Vitriol tour support, and when they were, we couldn't get tickets quickly enough! So, my turn to drive to Brizzle; we picked up Dave and new girlfriend Ceri, then got Ady and hit the road, getting a good parking spot (for once!) near the Uni.

Got the beers in and wandered into the then-sparsely populated hall for opening act Queen Adreena, a new band on me, but one featuring former Daisy Chainsaw vocalist Katie Jane Garside. She came on to little fanfare and intoned some low-key screeching number which was followed up by some clumsy, gothy malarkey. Didn't like Daisy Chainsaw either, and saw nowt to change my mind about her new charges, so we hit the bar again before the real catch of the day.

Seafood were late on - 9pm - but after a cacophonous bout of white noise riffery to introduce themselves, David stepped up to sing, "there's a house on a lake," the opening line to their cataclysmic finest moment, "Porchlight". What a way to start, I thought as I piled into the mosh. Little did I know... "Porchlight" was as powerful, insistent and edgy as ever, its' quiet mid-section blending into the cathartic climax perfectly, as usual. "Cloaking" up next, the angry, passionate, "get up, get up, get up, get up soldier," hook being met with a crazed response from the moshpit. "Western Battle" and splendidly spooky new single "Splinter" followed, both crashing, splendid and breathless. then...

"This is our last number; you're just getting a taste of Seafood tonight," explained David. Five songs - 5 bloody songs??? Crappity crap! However, we couldn't really argue with the final number; the 8-9 minute sleazy indulgence of noise and fire that is "Folk Song Crisis", merciless and manic, with a white noise mid-section to rival Bob Mould, and the screaming cacophonous climax seeing David screaming, crouched, with rage, and Kevin coaxing every ounce of feedback from the combination of bass, monitor and mike-stand. I think the wretched town fell!

So Rach and I emerged, sweaty and unbowed from the mosh, yet a little perturbed about the shortness of the set. Still, we met our gig buddies and grabbed some air and fluid before heading back in for headliners My Vitriol. They came on to white noise and smoke, and kicked into their slightly late 80's style blend of spiky rock and ethereal mood music. After the blown-out dynamics of Seafood however, this seemed a little flat and took some time to get going, "Cemented Shoes" a notable early exception, at which point I joined the jumping section of this by-now full crowd.

We stayed in the mosh for easily their 2 best numbers - the Husker Du-esque primal howl of "Losing Touch" and the hookier amphetamine rush of "Always; Your Way", but by now I was tired of punters landing on my head, so took off. Good for My Vitriol that they've taken a step up, but they should really write more songs like those 2, and tonight Seafood blew them away, no contest!

Afterwards, we bumped into - inevitably - Kev Seafood, who'd understood my gestures to him onstage and had saved me their set-list - for what it was worth!