Brian Said / Forever Falling
Week 19 - 23th June 2005
By Majere

So the third round of the BOTB is upon us, and with the final now approaching at the speed of an oncoming express train, the stakes are higher than the mercury in the thermometers on another sweltering night. Though the heat has seemingly caused several punters to seek cooler climes, the hardier souls are ready and waiting for the chaos that is..

BRIAN SAID - This competition's surprise package, the well-travelled Brian Said are once again in fine form. With a drumkit outfitted in blue neon and the frontman eschewing his glasses they kick things off with their now-familiar energy. As we've come to expect, most of the stage gear is used in the manner of a primary school climbing frame at some point in the set, and cordless guitars make the occasional foray into the crowd or frenzied twirl a less hazardous affair than might otherwise have been the case. The frontman does come unstuck on one occasion- dropping to the floor he is nearly pole-axed as the microphone cable attempts to drag the mic-stand down upon his cranium- but overall the madness is just controlled enough to keep things flowing. As is also becoming a Brian Said staple, guitar strings snap freely ("must be the sea air" opines the frontman) and sweets are dispensed to the crowd, chocolate eclairs replacing last round's lollipops. Though not quite reaching the heights of their second round set, this is another solid performance that does Brian Said no harm at all.


A quick turnaround here, with Forever Falling's soundcheck generating the usual mania. Attention must be drawn to the plight of one unfortunate BOTB punter, the appearance of whose fly button in the Marina convenience suggests either a truncated or a stressful night out...

FOREVER FALLING - With their faithful fan-club having just about calmed down from the soundcheck, Forever Falling retake the stage and promptly work them right back up again. In a possible concession to the heat, the previously floppy-haired bassist has opted for what my barber calls the 'number two', a similar opinion to that of a certain sibling of mine whose tastes run more to the hirsute than the cropped. Nonetheless, a sort of reverse-Samson effect seems to have occured, for this previously more restrained member of the quartet is unquestionably more lively than usual tonight. Despite a set dogged by technical problems (due, one suspects, to FF's habit of all but beating their instruments to death) Forever Falling can do no wrong in the eyes of the crowd, who sing and dance along happily and rise to the challenge of occasionally having a microphone shoved in their faces, even when the frontman mischeivously changes its position at unpredictable moments. If cordless guitars are an asset to Brian Said, they are as vital as oxygen to FF, whose mad gyrations would otherwise rapidly end in a mass of tangled cables. Indeed, for a nanosecond tragedy seems to have struck during the closing track, when all three guitarists suddenly plummet from sight and stop dead. But this fall fortunately lasts somewhat less than forever, and the restart from the resulting prone position is as tight as the stop had been. Whether these two bands will feature in the final, only time will tell. But in terms of creating a following from practically nothing, they have unquestionably been champions in this competition.

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