Tales From Ben Nevis

I'm glad I went to the Winchester Club yesterday. I was too tired to go to Revolver afterwards (the mod/northern night at the Admiral), but at least I made it down to the Woodside to see Zoey van Goey. Michael in the band is actually my seminar tutor for the Film & TV course. But playing before them was Wake the President, a band that I had not yet taken the time to check out. I didn't know they were playing too, so it was a happy surprise and I fell head-over-heels during their set. They're not actually Swedish as I thought, only of Swedish origin. Their music was a jangling pop noise, with hints of Orange Juice and well... Remember Fun. At least they had a song called that - a fact that I really love. Although they were too young to 'remember' them, as they claimed to do. Many of the songs were about people frequenting the Ben Nevis bar and the singer said their album ought be called that. The lead guitarist was really fun to watch, holding his Telecaster chest-high and looking intently at the fret-board. I guess that is what watching a guitarist in a shoegaze band would be like. Because they were looking at their fretboard too, not their feet, you know. And this guy knew what a guitar is supposed to sound like. The amp was sufficiently turned up to make the high notes warble in your ear. And I love singers with a slightly contemptuous stage persona! In addition, they were well dressed, well rehearsed and Honest.

Both bands could pride themselves in having their gigs labelled "seen by Stuart Murdoch". Like most of the crowd, he turned out to be there to see Zoey van Goey, because they were friends of his. As they came on people actually stood up and positioned themselves on the dance floor in front of the stage. The band, who are a three-piece, played a set that was much appreciated by the crowd, including me. They were very playful and were not afraid to be themselves on stage. Some of the instruments they used were acoustic and electric guitars, drums, violin and various small keyboards; and they all took turns singing. They even played some drum-guitar as you can see. Zoey van Goey have been playing live quite a lot lately so it wouldn't be too much of an effort for you to catch them live, which I recommend you do.