Advanced Guitar Course

There are no live bands tonight at The Keys Mixtape’s bonfire night party will be a DJ with fireworks through the mix. Last week we dropped down to the swanky student club on Linthorpe Road to take in two great up and coming local bands.

When we read that Dressed Like Wolves were playing Mixtape we just had to be there. The band that normally stalk intimate semi acoustic haunts would be first footing across the John Travolta disco dance floor of the glitzy Keys. Just how would the men now without hats cope with the big, bright, lights and full on PA?

First slot of the evening was eagerly grabbed by Hartlepool band, Shoot the Poet. It has been a big first year for the Hartlepool band. Winners of the Vela Edge 2013 competition, their reward was a place on the main stage at Stockton Weekender, and a chance to rub shoulders on the bill with Kodaline and Primal Scream.

Stockton Weekender must have given Shoot the Poet a taste for adventure as they booked themselves a UK tour. They are only just back off the road after a fortnight playing to audiences from Edinburgh to Bristol. What an experience that will have been and not surprisingly they seemed squeaky tight when playing Mixtape.

The four piece were all shouting “Hey” as I entered the venue. The singer’s brown DM boots were firmly planted on the illuminated squares of the stage. His pop croon “Take me by the hand” was offset by the short, sharp, scratchy, funky rock guitar and quick fire drums. Somewhere on the broad highway between Franz Ferdinand and Frankie and the Heartstrings perhaps. A mischievous  cover of Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun further underlined their big stage credentials.

There was no delicate vibraphone or wheezing chord organs but two fully amped up electric guitars and drum kit for Dressed Like Wolves. Rick’s crackly whispered vocals were cranked up to the max as the band that once used to disappear into their hats burst forth into the shiny nights of the Keys club with a triumphant rock set.

“We normally play in libraries,” Ricky confessed before plugging in to play his very first electric guitar gig. “We are a quiet band… but a bit weird.”

They certainly are that, wonderfully weird.

From “Particles” to “Stories,” henchmen Dan and Matt interchanged between strident drums to the kind of emotionally depth charged guitar that hot wires straight into your nervous system. The  newly revived Sebadoh would be proud to share this sound. As the lights on the squares beneath the band’s feet flashed up patterns and colours, the music spilled over and swamped the crowd who were absolutely bowled over. Guitar in hands, Matt cascaded from the platform on the final number, hopping around the audience as if he was on hot coals.

All the while Ricky crackled on magnificently. A special night and a soaraway success.

Next week Mixtape at The Keys features NARCS and Sirens in the Delta (TBC). Remember it is free entry before 10pm and £2 after until 2am. Bands are usually on between around 9.30am and over well before midnight. It is over 18 venue so you will need ID.

Photos – Tracy Hyman