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SECONDS AWAY / MAVIS
5th April 2004
By Terry Bullen
After last weeks bizarre experience at the hands of Beast with a Gun, the crowds packed into the Arena again, hoping that the halfway stage of the first round would throw up another feast of great music. This was by far the busiest week and the crowds were not left disappointed.
Seconds Away:
The melodic rock quartet Seconds Away took to the stage first and kicked off the sixth week in true style. The whole band gave the impression that the stage was their natural habitat and they looked full of confidence in the songs they delivered. The whole set from Seconds Away were originals, which could have caused the crowd to be a bit distant and unattached from the band. But this proved to be no problem, as the originals that the band delivered were of the highest quality and certainly the best we've seen so far. The vocalist had that special something, which we've only really seen on one other occasion in this years competition. This was the ability to seemingly be inside the song, living every word and portraying the pain and desire to the crowd in the passionate and at times heart-wrenching vocals. The lyrics within these songs were very powerful and really told a story to the crowd, such as the lyric “Why is she so fake? She will make you bleed”. This natural ability to deliver the songs in this way really adds something and can turn a song into an epic journey for not just the singer but the watching public also.
The whole band were animated on stage right from the off as the singer, guitarist and bass player strutted about the stage and played the crowds. They opened their set with a blistering song “This is the Time”. This immediately got the crowds attention and set the band up for what was a mind-blowing set of immense originals. The bass player loved every minute of it as he twisted and turned with his bass, in time with the drummer and the blonde, t-shirt clad lead guitarist. Seconds Away continued to deliver high quality songs throughout their set, one after the other. The crowd were treated to a vast range of songs, from the wounding lyrics in “Something So Fake” to the inspiring “In the Dark”. For a few of the songs the vocalist grabbed his guitar and played some great riffs, which really complimented the songs and highlighted the talent within the band.
The band then delivered a song, which for me was not just the highlight of this talented bands set, but was the highlight of the whole competition so far. The song was called “The Sorceress” and it had it all; wonderful lyrics, commanding guitar riffs and a brilliantly controlled piece of drumming. This was the sort of song you could easily imagine hearing in front of a packed main stage at Glastonbury.
The band closed their set with “Less Than Love”, which was meant to be their last song, but the crowd were having none of it, as chants of “more” filled the arena. The band had no choice but to supply the hungry crowd with a guitar drenched encore “The Final Chapter (New Horizons)”. This song brought an incredible set to a buzzing finish and left the crowd amazed at arguably the best band we've seen so far. I urge the band to try and get some studio time under their belts and get some tracks (The Sorceress, Something So Fake & In the Dark) recorded and distributed about, as it would be a shame if these fantastic songs never went further than the local music scene.
Seconds Away are up there with anything we've seen so far and have in their repertoire a large range of outstanding originals to merit this. The band loved being on stage and put everything into the songs they were performing. The quality was present right throughout the band, with remarkable vocals, brilliant bass, well played drums and some fantastic riffs on the guitar. As for the negatives, none really, as this band yet again raised the stakes in what's proving to be a fantastic competition. Seconds Away should definitely get through to the next round and have every chance of being in the final three.
Mavis:
Mavis were next to take to the stage and had a hard act to follow. Their funky blues was the first real change in musical style since the competition began and it was refreshing to hear. The band looked comfortable on the stage and were not phased by the occasion at all. In fact they were a very professional outfit and opened their set with a fantastic original “Attitude”, which included some excellent work on the guitar.
Mavis seemed to know what buttons to push with the crowd and by the time they'd reached mid set, they had the crowd eating out of their hands. The female vocalist had a fantastic voice, which was totally suited to the music the band played. In saying this there were a few songs where the vocal was a little overpowering for the band.
The guitarist was impressive but did seem to stand side on to the crowd a bit too much, which can be annoying if you're an admirer of watching a guitarist at work. By the time the band had reached their fourth song, a cover of “Play That Funky Music”, there were a bunch of people at the front of the stage, strutting their stuff in time with the funky chords and classy keyboard playing. The band followed this with a good cover of “Let's Stay Together”, where the vocalist shone yet again.
Mid set saw the band deliver the best song of the evening, with a brilliant vocal performance in one of the bands own songs “Rock Ballad”. This song was really solid and the whole band played it with real panache. This was then followed by the only noticeable negative in the bands set, as the guitarists one tone vocal ruined a cover of the Jackson 5 classic “ABC”. The band then reeled off another cover “Blame it on the Boogie”, which the female vocalist delivered with another great vocal performance, mixed in with some fascinating funky guitar and bass playing. This lured a large crowd to the dance floor, as the band seemed to step up a level and really got the public boogieing. The crowd were then sent into a frenzy as bubbles and foam poured from the machine above the stage. The band closed their set with two of their own songs “Octo Funk” and “ Sesame Street ”. Of which the first of these songs saw the members of the band introduced, as they each performed a solo with their instruments, to ensure that every member of this funky outfit got the deserved applause from the happy crowd packed in front of the stage.
Mavis had a really professional attitude towards their music and certainly knew how to get the crowd going. This may not have been to everyone's musical taste in the arena, but they were very good at the music they played and stand a good chance of progressing to the later stages of this competition.
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