Fridge / Zan Lyons - London Astoria - 29/1/00
3/5
By: Toby L
You really have got to hand it to the 'NME' on this one. Arguably, if another music-magazine was to host its own weekly-run of gigs to promote its awards-show in the next few days, you could anticipate that only one blanketing-style of music would exist in the performances. The point is, tonight, which has been tipped by some papers to be the show to be at this month, we are given four tasty helpings of music from the 'alternative' world (inclusive of a headline-set later on from Elastica).
So, not just satisfying the dance-freak to the pop-fan, but also the muso's that salivate at the prospect of weird noises via instrument-swapping and improvisational work (see Fridge). And it all works out to just a few quid per band for a night's entertainment.
First up is Zan Lyons, a bald guy producing such deep, reverberating bass-noises that some members of the audience are covering their ears in a desperate bid to keep their sense of hearing. As well as sounds representative of someone farting out last night's Vindaloo on the toilet, Zan also manages to create foot-stomping beats and loops that are worthy of top-20 club anthems and, thanks to tonight's semi-surround system, his work is emphasised in moderately full effect. Maybe the only reservation is that he doesn't actually move whilst he does his stuff on a tiny box of goodies, so maybe the clichι technique of using images on screens to back up his music is well worth considering.
Next, we are introduced to the most miserable men in the world, Fridge, who, from the outset, seem as if they don't know what the hell they're doing there with the audience soon following their lead. A funky drummer probably proves to be the most impressive of the three-piece, but the boffin that plays notes on his keyboard, sounding not too far off the future of elevator-music, is close to follow.
It does get better though, as they all switch instruments and prove to the blasι crowd that there is something to them that others haven't got, their thirty-five minutes ending on a high, with a virtual musical-battle where the three men are engaged in a contest to see who freaks everyone out the most; our personal opinion is that bassist Kieran Hebden got it in the end.
Whatever, an intriguing, if often baffling evening was had by all. And at least both start-ups have found their ways - and pretty quickly it seems, too.
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