The Goodnight Story + others, Barfly (Glasgow) 16/5/04

Having made the trip in as quick as i could in the 'rustbucket' (you'll probably all see the banger one day), i was really disappointed to see that TGS were on first. Having played at a previous Emergenza gig, i did get in for free though which was cool

Anyways, this meant that i only saw 4 songs of TGS's set, but it was enough to impress. It was good seeing the guys in a decent venue as my one previous experience was the 13th Note in December. They certainly played with gusto, and every bandmember was energetic onstage, without that 'lets jump about and not care what it sounds like' attitude which usually makes you want to poke your eyes out. Steve's an excellent frontman as well, working the crowd (tough to do when about 99% of it isn't yours). New song 'If You Really Wanna Hear About It' will soon become a fave with the TGS fans and they finished with the excellent 'Dream'. Funny ending, with Phil having to announce 'i was meant to play a quiet bit here, but i broke a string' to make it a slightly abrupt end. Good stuff though, and with a lot of bands pedalling the 'emo' sound at the moment, there can't be many doing it in a more refreshing and just downright good manner than The Goodnight Story.

The next band i caught were Graduation Day. These guys sounded a bit like Faith No More mixed with a more modern feel like Lostprophets, only minus the need to keep one's hair pristine at all times. They benefited from a fantastic sound, and the frontman was hilarious, although he stole most of his moves from Jack Black. At one stage, they fucked up the start to a song, so he moved a 'mind eraser' across the crowd so we would forget he did it. Would've been more effective if he'd bought me a pint mind . I reckon these guys will have got to the final, and they deserve it as well, because they won over the whole crowd with the great mix of good music and great humour. www.graduationday.cjb.net - check them out, you'll probably be hearing from these guys soon.

Soul Cellar are cool. Very cool. Classing themselves as 'classic rock', they've obviously stolen something from their AC/DC, Rolling Stones and Stone Roses records, shook it about and come out with a fresh take on it. Their singer has a voice that grabs your attention and the bassist was excellent throughout- one of the players who can make a funky bassline without overpowering the song (the best kind of bass player really). Again, it was impressive and well worth checking out if you're in their neck of the woods.

Then there's the band with no name. A complete fucking mental blank. Probably because i'm trying to keep them out of my head (whoever sees this who was there please fill in the name). Their singer was reminsicent of the guy who could understand the algebra that no-one else could at school- he was 30 and you can tell his mum still does his hair and ties his laces in the morning. What made this even funnier was the bass player had long hair and was a total metalhead- the kind that gave up on Metallica after '...Justice' and loved Maiden more than life itself. The metal poses this guy threw were classic, especially considering their sound was vaguely like Weezer and probably more like the wee shite who's trying to play 'Smoke on the Water' when you're in a guitar shop. Amateur by most standards, but considering what they were up against before, it looked even worse.

And that was it. I could take it no more. But i was happy to see a great band and discover 2 more in the process, which is what you want from a free gig on a Sunday night, really. Worth the trip.

Rosco