CAT FIGHT + LIVES + ONE STOP ONLY – THE SPICE OF LIFE, SOHO, LONDON 10.5.24
I must confess that my reason for attending tonight’s gig at The Spice Of Life in Soho is to see LiVES, who are second on the bill, and have been recommended to me by someone who definitely knows their onions. However, if there are three bands on the bill you see them all, yes? In case there’s any doubt, yes of course you bloody do!!!
First up are One Stop Only who are a six piece consisting of three guitarists (one of whom, Lexi, is on acoustic), a lead singer, bassist and drummer. It’s not the biggest of stages at The Spice Of Life, so it’s a good job that they remain fairly static as there’s really not room to move! They’re a really tight band and they can all clearly play well. However, whilst I applaud the fact that their set comprises all original material, apart from one cover, much of their material is very safe and, to be honest, a bit dull. It’s very middle-of-the-road stuff; entertaining, but not particularly memorable. There’s something about them that makes me feel as if I’ve walked through a portal into 1975, and that’s not just because of their interesting slightly reggae tinged cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’. They’d make a mint playing on cruise ships.
One Stop Only setlist:
‘Pull One More Bombay’
‘Running Late’
‘Long Due’
‘The Life’
‘277’
‘Mouth’
‘Lime Juice’
‘Dreams’ (Fleetwood Mac cover)
LiVES are essentially a vehicle for the songwriting of Peter Chisholm, formerly of the band The Sea. He is also joined by his brother (and also former bandmate in The Sea) Alex Chisholm on drums, plus Daniel Billings on bass. The gulf between LiVES and One Stop Only could not be clearer as LiVES unceremoniously rip the place apart. Live the band have a fire that to a degree is absent on their recordings. They rock like their lives depend on it.
Their lyrics are a commentary on modern society. ‘Cancelled’ targets political correctness, whilst ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ details Peter’s hatred of local politicians. I think if I had written the song that hatred would extend to all politicians, but that’s just me. Current single ‘Come Together #2’, somewhat surprisingly is co-written with James Morrison, has elements of rap and is gloriously angry. ‘F*ck Your Money’ meanwhile is finely tooled 21st Century punk. LiVES are indeed a fine band, and if you like a band that rocks out whilst delivering intelligent and thought-provoking lyrics, they’re the band for you.
LiVES setlist:
‘Is This What You Want’
‘What You Gonna Say Now’
‘Cancelled’
‘Come Together #2’
‘What A Way’
‘Let Them Eat Cake’
‘F*ck Your Money’
Cat Fight are a three piece punk band based in London. They’re a very good live outfit with some decent material. However, to my mind there are too many covers in their set. They’re well chosen covers and are done very well, but I would have preferred more original material. Sometimes they don’t project as well as they could. The vocals in ‘End Of The World’ could have been louder. The cover of The Runaways’ ‘Cherry Bomb’ was excellent, as was The Stooges’ ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’, which features the bassist on guitar and the guitarist on lead vocals and Iggy-esque moves. Cat Fight are a young band. They’re very good and they have plenty of time to become even better. However, LiVES should really have headlined tonight. Maybe they wanted an early night.
Cat Fight setlist:
‘Superstitions’
‘Angel Delight’
‘Pretty On The Inside’ (Hole cover)
‘End Of The World’
‘Cherry Bomb’ (Runaways cover)
‘Proximity Maintenance’
‘Boys In The Band’
‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ (Stooges cover)
Live’s absolutely did as you said what a band !