FADED THEORY / WRITTEN APOLOGY
21nd June 2004
By Terry Bullen

With the England game on there wasn't much of a crowd expected, but to be fair both bands managed to pull a more than expected crowd into the Arena. The England score was relayed to the bands and the crowds when possible and in general it was a great night of music, all topped off by a great result for the England football team! 

FADED THEORY: In some peoples eyes the energetic rock/indie outfit Faded Theory were fortunate to make the second round. Yes, they may not be one of the best groups in this competition but I believe the energy and togetherness within the band is what deservedly saw them edge through to this stage. This second round performance was a vast improvement from the first round, as the band had significantly improved and had obviously benefited from playing lots of support gigs over the past few weeks. The female vocalist oozed energy and the whole group were committed to their style of music and more importantly, they enjoyed every minute of playing it.

The main point that I picked up on from the first round was that the female vocalist was sometimes more focused on interacting with the crowd than concentrating on her vocals. This led to a few songs in the first round being vocally out of tune and slightly shaky. This performance was the total reverse of that and showed an impressive turn around from the first round. The vocal was of a much higher quality and was strong and controlled from start to finish.

Faded Theory added a couple of new covers to their second set, along with 2 more self-penned originals. The best of these new songs was the original “Riot, Riot”, which was heavy and fast and contained a brilliant vocal. The other original “Cherub” was also impressive and had some catchy lyrics and guitar playing, mixed in with some terrific work on bass.

Faded Theory have done well in this years competition and have gained some useful experience along the way. Along with this the band have managed to get themselves regular support gigs around the area, with some of the top established local bands. This without doubt has helped them improve and has seen them take giant steps forward as a band. This was clear to see in tonight's performance and showed just how much of a difference that extra bit of effort makes. Considering the level of competition this year, I would think that the band are more than happy to have reached this stage. They've put a large amount of effort in over the last few months and I can only see them getting better and better. Tonight's performance was excellent but in saying that I think they'll just miss out on making the final 4 bands.

WRITTEN APOLOGY: It was no surprise to see the rock outfit of Written Apology named amongst the second round bands. Their first round performance was scintillating and full of energy and it set a high level for all the remaining bands to follow. So I was looking forward to this second round set, to see if they could keep that level of performance up. I was not disappointed, as Written Apology maintained the high standard and executed another tidy and well delivered set.

I made a couple of points in the first round, in that the band could do with some more originals and that the vocal of the third guitarist was not to the level of the lead and female vocals in the band. The band improved in these areas by adding more high quality originals to their set, which was pleasing to see and showed that this band isn't just about playing covers. They also constructed a set, which encapsulated the vocal strengths of the bands lead and female vocalist while dropping the song, which contained the average vocals of the third guitarist in the first round. As a result this allowed him to do what he does best, in providing the band with a rich guitar sound. He also provided some accomplished bass playing, as back up for when the female bassist took over the role of lead vocal from the front man for a few songs.

Written Apology added 4 new songs to their second round set as they paraded 3 new originals and a cover from the rock messiahs Metallica. The best of the originals was “No Fool”, which showed off the amazing power in the female vocal and was backed up by a lovely rich sound from the rest of the band. As for the Metallica cover “I Disappear”, this was performed well but unfortunately because of the small crowd, it was not met with the usual hoards of metal lovers on the dance floor.

Their first round performance was off the scale and was also delivered to a packed Arena. So it was not a surprise to see a slight drop in the overall performance, as the band had to perform to a small and unenthusiastic crowd, which at times must have been hard. Don't get me wrong though, as this performance was still very good and I can't see any reason why Written Apology shouldn't have every chance of making the final 4. The band have in my view a phenomenal guitarist, who is probably the best in the competition. At one point during the set he even played his guitar behind his back! This along with the well-structured newly added originals gives the band the depth in their set to become worthy semi-finalists.

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Janistalis Wrote:
Faded Theory took the stage with confidence to deliver a storming performance!

It soon became apparent that these guys were much improved from the first round.
They looked much more together and whilst the lead singer talked to the crowds, she's lost a bit of arrogance and seems to feel more comfortable – no longer needing to shock the audience! She, in particular, does have the makings of a ‘star'.

The band as a whole delivered more stage presence than last time and all looked to be playing together and really enjoying it and certainly revelling in the fantastic audience support.
The vocalists singing quality was so much better and this, to me, made all the difference. She can really sing and demonstrated this frequently. And she can still shout well too, but this time the combination of singing/yelling was perfect.

The material was also better – gone were the weak “ Under The Bridge” and “Everlong”. Bombtrack was brilliant again. I didn't enjoy FFAF particularly, but maybe that's just me.
The new original “Riot” is OK – certainly catchy - but the best track of the lot was “Cherub” – melodic in places, lyrically fantastic and well delivered by all.

The hard work, practicing and frequent gigs Faded Theory have been doing have clearly paid off and they are now in my personal top three of this competition. Let's hope the judges agree.

Written Apology had an average performance this time, despite making some very wise changes to their set.
This time they had only one male and one female vocalist.
The male singers voice had improved, but still he lost some of the notes, either from voice problems or not getting back to the mike soon enough.

Previously with only a couple of originals, they have worked on a couple more, the first of which opened their set and was good, but not outstanding. I'm glad that the female vocalist can now demonstrate her talent with an original too and this one was pretty good, full of passion and well received by the audience. The original to end on was a wise move – this IS a stand out track and gets everyone going as well as having a brilliantly played guitar solo toward the end.

Technically Written Apology were very good – particularly the drummer and lead guitarist (who entertained us by playing behind his back), but they would improve no end if they each stuck to what they did best. The male singer plays rhythm guitar brilliantly, but his singing is just above average, the female vocalist is one of the best singers around, but her bass playing is not outstanding and must surely restrict their choice of songs and the third guitarist is a brilliant bass player! It makes sense…

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