Fistful of Fandango

Club Fandango’s urban mini-fest for up and coming bands took place from the 9th to 12th of September. Open went along to scout out unsigned bands and drink copious amounts of cheap beer.

First band on was Factory Floor, who played on the New Blood stage. The experimental outfit smacked of art school pretension and little else, not helped by the fact that they’d piled on so much reverb their music was pretty much indiscernible.

Far better were the wonderfully named An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, a female 3-piece whose sound nods to New York post-punk and grunge. The glamorous trio switched instruments various times throughout their set displaying their obvious talent. In spite of this they are as yet unsigned. Will their noisy, raucous sound and angsty, yet powerful vocals find a space amidst the current penchant for mainstream, generic indie rock? Lets hope so.

Female choir Gaggle ( see Open's interview )  assembled on Stage 1 in their wonderfully patterned hooded cloaks. Are they a cult? Are they a coven? Seemingly they’re a bunch of fun-loving girls that sing songs called I Like Cigarettes’ and I’m a Drunk. The most original act of the festival by far, their sheer presence more than made up for the fact that they are still very much in their infancy and need to tighten their act a little. Definitely a band to watch out for, however whether their live charisma will translate in the studio remains to be seen.

Unfortunately there were a few uninspiring moments, provided by the likes of Eugene McGuiness (bland), The Molotovs (Arctic Monkeys wannabes), and The Chapman Family (self-indulgent noise). Televised Crimewave and Islington Boys Club gave energetic performances and couldn’t be faulted technically, but they still didn’t show us anything we hadn’t heard a hundred times already.

The true highlight of Fistful was Art Brut’s headline performance on Saturday. The punk band played an energetic, charming and very humorous set led by lead singer Eddie Argos, who urged every member of the audience to meet him the following morning at the Tate Modern with the aim of holding hands and singing in front of his favourite painting.

Songs about bad sex, vowing to give up alcohol and failed relationships displayed an honesty and warmth that had been lacking throughout the festival. Argos’ style is to shout rather than sing, and he has a habit of stopping mid-song to share his thoughts on things such as London transport with the audience. As he preached the line ‘popular culture no longer applies to me’ we even began to feel that a cultural revolution is possible once again. Perhaps Art Brut can lead it.

Leila Hawkins


For more info on Fistful of Fandango visit www.clubfandango.co.uk

For more on Art Brut visit www.artbrut.org.uk

An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump play Catch, 22 Kingsland Road, London E2 8DA on 23rd October www.myspace.com/anexperimentonabirdintheairpump

Gaggle will perform at The Phoenix, 37 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0PP on 3rd October www.myspace.com/gagglespace