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HIJACKED MOJO / WRITTEN APOLOGY
15th March 2004
By Terry Bullen
The third week of Battle of the Bands arrived and you could sense the whole crowd were hoping that the sound difficulties from the previous week would not continue and that both bands would send them home buzzing. They were not disappointed as the sound was much better, all thanks to some hard work by Dale and others, plus the fact that both bands came prepared.
Hijacked Mojo:
The four piece punk band, Hijacked Mojo were bestowed the honour of getting the third weeks event underway. The band looked a little lost at first but after a couple of songs they relaxed and looked more comfortable with the stage environment. The majority of the bands set were originals, which is always nice to see, as this adds depth to a band and shows a real passion for the music. The bands originals were mixed in there standard, as they delivered good songs in “Go Home Asshole” and “4 Days After” and poor songs in “Last Time” and the aptly named “Dick Cheese”.
Included in the set were a few covers of which the finest one was the Millencolin cover “No Cigar”, which included some enchanting work by the guitarist. The one thing that really struck home with this band was that musically they were good, but lacked a quality vocal. The female vocalist was very one toned and came across as a bit of a Kelly Osbourne wanna be. The band never really set the stage alight and as a result of this the crowd were very subdued. That was the case until the final song, which brought a pocket of people to the dance floor for some moshing. Those individuals seemed to enjoy this song, but for me it was a very average cover of The Distillers song “City of Angels ”.
Overall the band were reasonably good musically and will have scored well for originality, but for me the vocals were the down side to this young band. At times the band were out of time with each other but with more togetherness and an improved vocal, this band could develop further. As far as progressing to the next round, I think that will depend on the bands to follow, but Hijacked Mojo could just scrap through.
Written Apology:
Up next was the turn of the alternative rock outfit, Written Apology, who took to the stage as if they'd been there many times before. The striking thing about this band was that every member looked at ease and enjoyed every minute of the set they were performing.
The band was full of accomplished musicians, who took pride in their work and showed the tightness and high quality that really sets the best bands apart from the rest. Their set was full of covers that you don't usually hear done by other bands, but this really worked for them, as they performed them well and left the crowd spell bound by the way they delivered them. The band executed covers by Placebo, Foo Fighters and Skunk Anansie with real aplomb. The beginning of the set saw one of the guitarist encounter some problems with his guitar, but he overcame this and sorted everything out without losing his stride.
The one thing that really stood out was the bands impressive range of vocal talent, from the rocky tones of Will, through to the heart stopping vocals of female vocalist Jo in amazing covers of “Twisted” from Skunk Anansie, “Nancy Boy” by Placebo and “Oughtta Know” by Alanis Morissette. Towards the end of the set came the highlight of the evening, with an original “Forgotten Hero” that will surly be up there as one of the best, come the end of this years event. The band performed it with real ease and seemed to be on another level at this point, as the drummer turned in a Keith Moon esc performance and the guitarists strings were left smoking, as they powered through the song like a runaway train.
At this point the crowd were like junkies, waiting on there next fix and were not disappointed when the band tore into a great cover of the Foo Fighters classic “My Hero” to end a set with a finale worthy of any world class band. They wowed the crowd and the lead guitarist was mobbed by the frantic fans who had packed the dance floor, as he pushed his guitar towards them in appreciation. It was very hard to find any negatives in this performance but one did appear in the average vocals by Duff during a cover of “Swing” by the All American Rejects.
Written Apology are by far the best band we've seen so far and they've raised the stakes, which all remaining bands will need to follow. The whole band performed brilliantly and they purred through their set like a well-tuned engine. They could do with adding a couple more originals to their set, but it is early days. There's certainly no need for a Written Apology here, as this band will easily get through and in my opinion are definite contenders for this years title!
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Other reviews:
Steven Mccreery wrote:
Hijacked Mojo – This band seem to be very good, but unfortunately for them, the main vocals are very bad. The guitar work was very solid, although the solos often sounded ameurterish, and the bass and drums were faultless for the most part. The female singer, however, lets the band down in my view. Shouty, monotonous and irritating. Their originals were indifferent, some better than others, but again the vocals were a little off putting. Their song writing is not in question though. Some good songs that fit right into their genre. They could have done enough to get through though. We'll have to see.
Written Apology – This band some people have dubbed the ‘super group' of the competition, with all the members having vast experience in established bands. With their obvious talent, it's hard to be too critical, and compared to some bands we've had to endure so far these are excellent. But, there are some flaws in this outfit. The most notable two, are the very weak, verging-on-awful vocals by the third lead vocalist in the song ‘Swing', and their lack of quality original songs. They only played two, and both were instantly forgettable with the exception of a blinding guitar solo at the end of ‘ Forgotton Place'. This being said, their covers were very, very good with the highlights being the ones sung by their female vocalist who has an amazing voice. ‘Twisted' (Skunk Anansie), ‘Nancy Boy' (Placebo) and ‘Oughtta Know' (A. Morisette) were all outstandingly played and sung, and deserved the crowds belting reaction. A dead cert for the next round, (unless theres a disqualification about the sound help or entry credentials, I hope the organisers do not do this).
All in all, this was easily the best week so far, hopefully the standard will remain high.
Janistalis wrote:
Hijacked Mojo started tonight's entertainment with True Believers. As a first song it wasn't particularly hard hitting and I felt that the vocalist looked a little uncomfortable without her guitar – and kept turning her back to the audience as if she was looking for support from her fellow band members.She was probably nervous as she then started smiling and looked as if she was enjoying it a little more as they went into their second track.
The first few songs were not fantastic, technically. Each band member did their bit really well, but I often noticed the guitarist a little off beat with the drummer and something just didn't feel right at the beginning.
Vocally, the band needs to improve. Sometimes the vocalist seems to not choose to ‘sing' but rather shout in a monotone. OK, let's face it, we are talking punk here, and not all successful punk vocalists have been able to carry a tune – in a lot of songs it's not needed as long as the volume and aggression is there. However, I'm undecided as to whether a band can get away with a whole set of these tracks. Taking nothing away from the vocalist, she had guts, looked good and has the potential to be a good front person to the band if her voice gains presence.
However, by the time the original 4 Days After came along, the crowd were up and at last we had a pit. Lock, Stock and Gone was done quite well, the pit certainly chilled the band out and they improved as I watched. Go Home Asshole was the best one in my opinion – the crowd loved it and the vocalist delivered this song with real passion. City of Angels by the Distillers was a good one to finish on and kept the crowd buzzing until the end.
Hijacked Mojo have a mostly original set and there are some real gems in amongst that lot, but I think they need to think about their delivery of this material. I was entertained by them, but I'm anticipating much better things from these guys if they keep persevering
Written Apology came on stage looking very comfortable. And so they should as they knew what they were about to deliver. These guys are quite experienced, and stage presence was in abundance as they rocked away, one guitarist regularly wandering to the other side of the stage to interact with the other.
They started with Bush, which seemed promising, but technical problems threw the singer quite a bit and his frustration (albeit justified) would have been better off hidden from the crowds.The second male vocalist then did a number which was good and the problems of the first song were soon forgotten.
Having three vocalists has plus and minus points. It's great as it gives the crowd variety and allows the band a wider range of material to play. It's not as good as the band might find themselves fighting for direction. Also, in this case, the female bassist relinquished her bass to the 2 nd guitarist in order to sing and this is the kind of waiting about that most crowds get irritated with. Silence on the stage – maybe some ‘impromptu' jam from the drummer and lead guitarist could fill that hole?
Despite this, the female vocalist was worth the wait. No one can dispute the quality and clearness of her voice, and credit to her for somehow managing to get the pit going during Skunk Anansie and Placebo.
I did feel that the Alanis Morissette cover lost a little in the middle and would have preferred to hear a bass solo accompany the quieter vocals rather than the harshness of the guitar.
With the pit now going wild, the guys really played to the crowd and looked very professional. The 2 nd male vocalist covered a tricky one by All American Rejects, but did fairly well. Lot's of laughs took the band to their second original which I feel is a real stand out track (might need some amendment to the lyrics though!) This number really rocks up at the end and the crowd were going mental. They could have ended there on a high, but, almost like an encore, continued to their final track by the Foo Fighters.
Written Apology have the stage presence, the technical ability and the support of the crowd and I'd be surprised if they didn't go a long way in this competition.
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