With tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, I made my way to the gig - Nana Moon had just breathed her last on EastEnders, and her grandson was grizzling away like a baby as he cradled her in his lap. "What a waste," I thought. Why, oh why, in a moment of inspiration, could the scriptwriters not have made more of Nana's hydrocephalus and let her, in a final moment of bewilderment, strike down both Alfie and Jake with a potato-peeler, before being knocked-down by Dot Cotton, whilst fleeing Albert Square? Alas, this was not to be. Things were faring little better at the Glastonbury Assembly Rooms. The place was nearly as dead as the recently deceased Nana. Mushroom Mick gets a better crowd than this, as he busks away with an out-of-tune acoustic guitar (playing one Beatles song, while simultaneously singing another) in Glastonbury High Street on a wet Wednesday in October. Mnemosyne  | | Mnemosyne |
Each of the three bands had to put up with a diabolical sound quality in the venue. When it comes to levels, these were muddier than a Somerset Levels' peat bog after a heavy rainstorm. My theory behind it was that the plug in the PA guy's earlobe was the same size and shape as a Christmas tree bauble, which meant his balance was all over the place! The first band was an enthusiastic young bunch from Frome called Mnemosyne. They belted out some stomping funky nu-metal crossover tunes, and reminded me very much of the legendary late 80s/early 90s San Franciscan funk-metal band Mordred - even though they'd probably never heard of them. Closing my eyes for a few seconds, I almost believed their vocalist Kev was Mordred's Scott Holderby, and as he yelled out "thank you Glastonbury" at the end of one song, it seemed he could have been playing the Pyramid Stage at Pilton in front of 80,000 dedicated fans, rather than to a virtually empty hall 10 miles down the road. Apparently, the set was truncated due to the no-show of their sampler, but the few songs they did play were pretty damn enjoyable, and show some potential. Darksunn Rising Darksunn Rising were up next - the heaviest band on the bill. Their vocalist paced the stage in a similar style to Pitchshifter's Jon Clayden and looked slightly like him.  | | Darksunn Rising |
I'd say their style was in the vein of the intense metal British bands like Raging Speedhorn or Medulla Nocte, with a dash of Boston's Converge - their material comprised some pile-drivingly brutal songs. When they hit their stride, they had some great tuneful grooves going, but there were also a few stumbles along the way, and they were sloppy and lacking consistency in places. However, this was no doubt due to what they could hear of themselves in the monitors. Finally, nul ponts to the drummer for wearing a T-shirt with a meaningless offensive slogan - it's neither big nor clever, young man, and there's no need to publicise what your mates think of you. Daisy Cutter Finally, it was time for Taunton's Daisy Cutter. I felt as if as if I'd unintentionally appeared a little harsh in my recent review of their Zero EP, and I know the band is of the same opinion, so I wanted to see how they performed in a live environment. Would this Daisy Cutter be a top-of-the-range petrol-driven Qualcast, or just my elderly neighbour's push-along cylinder mower? I know that saying what you think doesn't always win you friends, but this was my opportunity to redress the balance. Or, at least, I hoped so...  | | Daisy Cutter |
As they came onstage, half the band were wearing Santa hats, and I wondered if they'd be giving us something we really wanted for Christmas, or just yet another pair of unwanted socks. Frontman Zane brings to mind, both visually and in the aura he exudes, a longer-haired version of Pop Idol's Darius Danesh; to watch him in action, the flower that springs to mind is not a daisy, but a narcissus (named after the Greek god who, upon seeing his reflection in a pool, fell in love with himself). To observe the band's interaction as a whole, it appears the focus is on him and his guitarist brother Chris, who dominate the stage (and sometimes, like tonight, the floor), while the bassist and drummer are simply wallflowers in the background. The bass was too low in the mix, which didn't help, but Heidi's drumming was well-paced and held things together well. Being very familiar with DC's own material, after frequent listens to their EP, I was slightly disappointed that they aired far too little of it tonight. Nevertheless, their own songs (Samba in particular) were delivered very well in adverse conditions, and, to a casual listener, it would be hard to tell which numbers were the band's own and which were covers. It is a shame, however, that they didn't have the confidence in their own material to let it shine more, as this is a much better way forward for them. A piece in the local paper this very week advertised a ballsy swagger that they didn't deliver: "We like to think of our music as a big roller coaster ride - you get on, have the time of your life, then get off again." I suppose, like a roller coaster, it had its ups and downs, but it was hardly nail-biting stuff, and the way they massacred Smashing Pumpkins' Zero was a crime against rock music.  | | Daisy Cutter |
A worse mistake, however, was playing a medley of covers. As soon as they hit their stride in one song, it would morph into another - this was teeth-gratingly irritating and somewhat cheesy. In particular, I felt their above-average Nirvana number was ruined by this, and, as the set closed with yet another cover (Megadeth's Peace Sells), I felt that they'd let themselves down. This is a shame, because, when chatting to Zane and Chris afterwards, I found them to be great guys, who are obviously very good musicians and passionate about their band. At this point in their career, though, they need to at least determine what they are trying to achieve and then stick to it. It is evident they have great pride and faith in what they do, but may have a slightly idealistic view of what they are delivering. Their confidence would be better directed at fine-tuning their promising original material. | 
