Coventry’s local music scene isn’t as dead as a lot of people think. There’s a lot of interesting and different bands, as well as a crazy amount of plastic scene kid bands. The Kasbah seems to be doing pretty well at picking a few good bands and a couple of terrible ones to show every once in a while. Up tonight were two bands from Warwick University who were pretty musically different. It’s just a shame that it was kind of quiet to start off with.

 

First up were 44 Magnum. They played a good set, with a lot of soulful rock songs, almost reminiscent of Black Stone Cherry. It’s clear that the band draw influence from a cross section of different bands, such as Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Audioslave and even a little bit of Black Sabbath coming through. Almost every song sounded tight and together, with only one song (I think it was called No Surprise) sounding a little bit messy. Definitely can be forgiven though, for what was an awesome set! I really liked how bluesy 44 Magnum sounded; it’s an almost refreshing change to hear in a local scene mostly dominated by identical “hardcore” bands. It was a real shame that there weren’t more people about for this band’s set; it was cool to see that there are bands doing different things out there!

 

Coast Is Clear came next, with a much fuller room and some faster paced songs. The band’s sound is energetic and mostly up beat and feel good, with some influences from 90’s American punk bands, like NOFX, Alkaline Trio and some more recent indie bands too, like the Pigeon Detectives. It was awesome to see some pretty fun dancing going on, I’m not ashamed to say I joined in at all. Like 44 Magnum, Coast Is Clear performed really well, each song flowing well and sounding well rehearsed. The band didn’t put a foot wrong and the energy they put in to the performance really stood out; even a more sombre song (about one of the band’s ex’s) was still full of energy. It’s not very often you see a band with the ability to keep such a fast pace for the entirety of a set, but CIC managed it brilliantly. The only drawback of the set being a little bit of feedback, but they couldn’t really do much about it. Jordan (Vocalist, guitars) also seems like a top bloke.

 

All in all, it was a good night and just needed a few more people there. Coventry, go see more local bands. It’ll pay off, I promise you.