BORN BACKWARDS / SECONDS AWAY
7th June 2004
By Terry Bullen

The Atlantis Arena was strangely quiet for this heat and I guess some people just decided to say at home, after having an exhausting weekend in the sun or at the Donnington Download Festival.

Seconds Away: Seconds Away had a faultless first round and were probably the best band in those heats. So it was always going to be difficult to match that scintillating performance from that round. Unfortunately the band never really fully found their feet tonight and the guitarist had a bit of an off night, as he occasionally had timing issues and was sometimes out of tune. The band were visually good again and very energetic but as a whole they lost the quality and tightness that was there throughout their first round performance. The drummer performed really well though and give it his all in try to keeping the band together in places, but it was just one of those nights where things didn't quite click. Don't get me wrong, as it wasn't a poor performance but it was fairly average in comparison to their first round efforts and the high levels that we're now seeing in this year's competition.

The band added to their second round set a new song “As ill”, which slotted in perfectly with the existing full set of originals, that are distinctive to this band and have a stamp of quality all over them lyrically and musically.

The lads will probably be a bit down after this average performance but they should remember how amazing they were in the first round and how many people took note of that. Seconds Away are still a fairly new band and are still growing as a unit, so you expect these nights occasionally. This band will grow and more gigs will give them the experience, which in turn will bring consistency. I have no doubt that this band will in time find that level of consistency, as the desire and talent in this band is there for all to see.

I think tonight's performance may see Seconds Away bow out of this years competition, but this certainly isn't the last you'll see of these lads. They've just recorded their first EP and are already impressing audiences around the local scene. I for one have grown to enjoy this band and I've been taken back by the great material that they've created. All I can say is put this one behind you lads and keep pressing on, as you're moving in the right direction.

Born Backwards: My sign off comment from the first round review of Born Backwards was that I'd seen them play better and tighter as a unit. So it was a delight to see them bring that exact performance to the stage tonight. The band were much more solid and they seemed more relaxed, as they reeled off a great set.

One of my comments from the first round was that I found the guitarist very static and withdrawn from the rest of the band. So I was pleased to see a smile of enjoyment on the guitarists face for parts of the set and a willingness to get more involved with the rest of the band. A further point that I picked up on was that the band could do with another guitarist and “Tall Paul” didn't suit this role. I would now like to retract that statement as “Tall Paul” was a totally different person for this round and gave the band that extra dimension, which allowed the stunning vocalist to concentrate on singing. I'm guessing that “Tall Paul” was maybe new for the first round and hadn't really got up to speed at that point. Whatever the reason was, he now seems at ease and fits into the band perfectly.

The vocalist had problems with the microphone when singing their own song “Waiting” in the first round. So it was great to hear this power-ballad in its entirety and to see the vocalist stun the crowds with his amazing vocal, which was spot on, even in the quieter parts of this song. Born Backwards added three songs to their second round set (2 originals and 1 cover). All three of the songs were performed well and the bands original, “Knuckleduster” was a very catchy song. The best of the new songs was the penultimate song of the night “The Devil Shakes His Ass When He's Dancin”. The front man introduced this song with a short tenacious D style story about the night that he met the devil in his bedroom and how the devil shaked his ass while dancing! This song was very entertaining and gave the crowd a great piece of rock and roll to send them home on a high.

Born Backwards improved in all areas from the first round and delivered a majestic set that will certainly place their name in the judge's minds when it comes to naming the 4 bands for the semi finals.

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Janistalis wrote:
Seconds Away will know that they didn't play their best tonight.

Don't get me wrong – Seconds Away less than par are still very good. They thrashed out their original set with manic enthusiasm and plenty of action to thrill the audience, including their own attempt at a mosh pit!
Technically there were places where they were out of time and out of tune – particularly when the guitarist tried to lead the drummer.

The lead singers vocals were excellent and the bands originals are sounding more familiar now and easily recognisable, particularly The Sorceress and Something So Fake which are consistently fantastic. The new original is also a promising one.
Sadly a dwindling crowd saw no mosh pit, but they still got a great audience reaction.

I hope that their earlier performance will get them through, as I really believe their cracking set of originals and their enthusiasm and energy deserve to be recognised. However we all know how tough the competition is and with a 4 band next round, it's going to be tough for them.

Born Backwards. I knew they could be great! They have a much improved ‘image' and now ALL look and act Rock n Roll! The bassist looked great, the previously ‘static' guitarist smiled loads more and moved about and Tall Paul fitted in really well and proved his worth.
The lead vocalist displayed his amazing talents as usual – what a fantastic, unique, well-controlled yet raw voice!

On the whole they really performed, looked and sounded great. The originals are very good, and we were treated to the full uninterrupted version of Waiting, which was brilliant. There were two new ones. Knuckleduster was sheer genius and The Devil Shakes His Ass When He Dances was entertaining – it was worth a try to get the audience involved, but again, pitiful crowds meant the band were on to a loser in that department.

Born Backwards have got their act together and I would love to see them in the next round, and personally I'd like to see them win!

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