 | | Animal Urges |
First act of the evening was local band Animal Urges, whose two geeky guitarists took to took to the stage wearing the sort of unflatteringly tight fitting spangly cat suits that would give the Darkness' Justin Hawkins a run for his money, while the über-cool drummer sported a gold lame jacket and shades. Considering that I had never seen them before, they kept me well entertained with their tongue-in-cheek, self-deprecating humour and upbeat catchy numbers, and surprising though it may seem for an opening band, I'd never heard of on a four-band bill. I'd probably go as far as saying they were the most entertaining act of the evening, wiping the floor with the other acts, incorporating into their sound the best musical elements from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. 3dBs DownNext up was 3dBs Down from Gravesend in Kent. Formed about five years ago, these four guys looked seriously young, although they did state that tonight was their third visit to Yeovil (and I believe their second in support of The Fight). Musically they were pretty tight and enjoyable, a little bit pop, a little bit punk, with a little bit of metal and ska thrown into the mix to keep things nice and varied.  | | 3dBs Down |
The two guitarists and bassist all took turns at vocal duties; even though their voices were a bit flat in places. Generally though, although they started off with a lukewarm reception, after a little bit of gentle coercion and clever working of the crowd, they soon had an enthusiastic bunch of people skanking along on the dance floor, but fared less well in coaxing down from the balcony the vast amount of people, who for whatever reason decided that they were in the best place to observe and hear the bands. Intriguingly, some officer-friendly song titles, like Quick Fix and Kidnap and Ransom, they seemed to go down a riot with the Yeovil Constabulary, who joined in the fun in force, and could be seen enjoying the set from various vantage points around the venue. I'd hope, therefore, they have found themselves a suitable headlining act for their policeman's ball, and the lads' fourth chance for a Yeovil show. To be honest though I believe their presence was to check out the venue for underage drinkers! Cigarette | | Cigarette |
Next up, from Hollywood was Cigarette, whose biggest selling point appears to be that they've been seen on MTV's Pimp Your Ride. Firstly, I'd like to say that their name sucks, and as there were only three of them, not 20, perhaps they should change it to Condom. I don't wish to sound too harsh, but they were pretty abysmal. There was no bassist, just a guitarist, drummer and female singer, and their sound was ultra light, not high tar. Vocalist Heather sauntered on stage complete with a swear word on her jacket, looking like she had loads of sneery punk attitude, so I was expecting a big ballsy set. But after an opening salvo in which she threw herself around the stage a bit, she settled down and seemed a little lost and overwhelmed, as the band churned out half a dozen or so not very interesting, not very varied numbers, culminating with a song titled It's Over Now, and thankfully it was.  | | Cigarette |
Perhaps they should have spent a little more time on their music rather than their image. Having said that, they did seem to go down OK with some of the younger members of the crowd (of which there were plenty), but their material certainly wasn't smoking, and judging them on this performance alone, I don't think I'll be getting a Cigarette addiction anytime soon. Before The Fight took to the stage, there was a long delay, while the DJ played some incredibly cheesy pop hits to get the party atmosphere going, and I'd say this segment provoked the best crowd reaction of the evening, with loads of kids dancing and singing along to all their favourite songs. Being a miserable old sod, I got bored of this pretty quickly. The FightAnd so to The Fight. With a name like that, and if I didn't know otherwise, I would have expected a heavily tattooed, pugilistic, macho, hardcore band from Brooklyn, New York, rather than a bunch of young scrawny guys (and a gal) from Dudley, in the Midlands! The Fight formed in 2000 and have an album on Repossession Records, entitled Nothing New since Rock 'n' Roll, which pretty much sums them up, in that their music is no more than average pop punk and brings nothing new to the table. Their popularity in some part is due to their good fortune in being invited to support New Found Glory in London, after their demo was heard by guitarist Chad.  | | The Fight |
This later led to them releasing a single (Home Is Where the Hate Is) on cult US label Fat Wreck Chords, and the opportunity to play big shows with Rancid, Yellowcard and Sugarcult in the UK, as well their own headline shows and an appearance on last year's Warped tour in the USA. Tonight their selection of punchy three-minute, three-chord songs, with titles like Stage School Kidz, Karaoke Star and Forgotten Generation, went down well in an atmosphere that was largely reminiscent of a school disco, with lots of kids down the front waving their arms around and jumping up and down excitedly. The material was delivered in an exuberant and energetic style, which (though they'll despise me for saying it) was more Avril Lavigne or Busted than the female-fronted version of the Clash, Buzzcocks or Green Day I was expecting. As singer Kate (or K8 as she cringingly calls herself) used to be a member of teeny pop sensations (!) 21st Century Girls, maybe that influence has stuck. | 
