INFL MESSY CHRISMASH
7 Stoney St, Nottingham NG1 1LG
The last time I saw Studs was their headline gig at the Southbank in the City but this time they were opening up at the Angel as supporting act to Lord Ha Ha whom my band knives had supported at Wadstock and PhattFox who I’d seen before headlining at the Tap n Tumbler… it mattered not where they were on the bill, as I’ve said before, these angelic looking young upstarts deliver with passion, whether it’s to a well attended home crowd or to one man and his dog… just like the Pistols…..they mean it maaaaan, there is a future, in these lads dreaming.
Drummer Pete and Front man Josh have clearly put the hours of rehearsal in, playing as sharp as the ironed crease on their designer ‘Tees’. With just one Nirvana cover in the set, all these songs could well have been penned by Kurt Cobain himself. Their punk attitude performance was, dare I say, ‘supreme’ in every sense of the the word!

Next up was psychedelic muso royalty, Lord Ha Ha, with a chunky set of keyboard embraced guitar rock, playing predominantly original, self indulgent space face music with ‘crowd pleaser’ ‘you gotta fight for your right to Paaaarty’ thrown in for good measure, which indeed they did seem to be doing for the whole gig! I was fortunate enough to line check for one of the guitarists after admiring what I thought was a turquoise Danelectro… turned out it was a Duesenberg… a beautiful axe indeed, not sure I was worthy. A very tight ‘live’ rhythm section meant that the avalanche of electronic keys and strings could experiment somewhat and improvise when they felt it necessary.
Headliners PhattFox finished the night of entertainment with a very lively visual performance. An electronic based fusion of reggae, ska, drum n bass and jungle, resulting in most of the band and the crowd dancing on tables. There was definite overtones of ‘King Prawn’ and ‘Prodigy’ for me which really kept the crowd alive and interested. Nevermind the goose, xmas was coming and the Fox was getting Phatt! Another mish mash line up of diverse acts presented by INFL that worked a treat… cos great live music is … well…..great live music however it’s dressed up!

by Craig S#arp-Weir
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