Reel Big Fish / The Magnus Puto / The Jellycats [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 11/7/14]
When viewed from the outside, alternative music venues can be easily misunderstood. Judging by the expressions of mainstream Friday night revellers heading toward Casino or Dusk or wherever, the queue of kids snaking around The Boileroom might as well have been the aliens from Mars Attacks. Some people don’t seem to understand that it’s not necessary to spray yourself orange and wear clothes so tight that you look like one of the X-Men after a Topshop makeover in order to have a good time.
Good times were definitely on the agenda last night, fastidiously trendy clothing or not. With jelly babies waiting in bowls behind the door and a mood-setting ska soundtrack engulfing those heading bar-ward, thoughts of the affluenza-ridden masses outside were quickly forgotten. Then a few bands played, and they were a bit good…
The Jellycats
This is how you kick things off. Some of the best sets I’ve seen at The Boileroom were performed by ska-influenced acts; from Tree House Fire to By The Rivers and Bare Jams, if there’s ska in the air then good times are not only afoot, but actively being had. With this set, The Jellycats added to a steadily growing list that hopefully will never end.
Whether bashing out new tunes from their upcoming EP A&E, covering evergreen classic Everybody Needs Somebody To Love, trying to keep up with their drummer, or taking the piss out of each other during those ever-perilous guitar tuning sessions, The Jellycats owned their songs, stage, and audience from start to finish. Intense, tight, and loose in equal measure. Fucking awesome.
The Magnus Puto
For their first show in Guildford, The Magnus Puto received a hero’s welcome – and deservedly so. Chucking hip-hop and electronic influences into their ska-based musical melting pot (see what I did there), these guys stood out a country mile – in a very good way.
As with The Jellycats, The Magnus Puto know how to write immensely delicious songs. Another Way was a personal highlight – you just can’t argue with a song about “A boss you want to kick in the face,” can you? Elsewhere, some cheeky synth work and hot wah guitar action got hips grinding and hands waving in the air, while full-on party vibes and a set-closing “wall of love” set the stage perfectly for…
Reel Big Fish
The moment these guys took the stage, everyone in the place screamed so loud that I’m willing to bet every penny and possession I have that at least one person achieved orgasm.
I’ve never seen a band rewarded with an instant pogo pit the moment they started playing in a venue this size, but Reel Big Fish were. What followed was nothing short of mind-blowing; most of the time it was hard to tell whether you were hearing the band playing, or the crowd singing along. Everyone Else Is An Asshole; Trendy; She’s Famous Now; I Want Your Girlfriend To Be My Girlfriend; Good Thing; She Has A Girlfriend Now (featuring Jellycats vocalist Emma May); Sell Out; Another Fuck You Song; Your Guts (I Hate ’em); Where Have You Been?; Beer; Monkey Man and Take On Me and more inspired so much movement that the bar was constantly crowded with sweat-soaked, dehydrated, and ecstatic pit lovers, as well as the aforementioned non-stop singalongs.
This kind of show is something only a small venue can offer. Festivals and arenas are great, but this kind of intimacy just can’t be beaten. My “Favourite Gigs Of All Time” list used to include Motley Crüe, System Of A Down, and Iron Maiden at festivals, and Dream Theater and Tim Minchin in arenas – but now my Top Five has to be a Top Six, because Reel Big Fish have taken the top spot and I don’t have the heart to drop one of the others. This was the best show I’ve ever seen, and I don’t make that statement lightly. If you were there, you understand – and if you’ve never seen Reel Big Fish live before, then for God’s sake do it already.
If I could relive only one live music memory, it would be this night. Every band nailed it, the fans were fantastic (terrible pun intended), and The Boileroom’s staff did a spectacular job of keeping things safe and smoothly run. If this kind of thing sounds like a good thing to you, be sure to click the link below to find out how you can save The Boileroom from closure. If this place goes under, it’ll be a crying shame.
Links
Find out how to help save The Boileroom here.
Reel Big Fish official website.
The Magnus Puto official website.
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