Aura Distorter, Tramp with a Plan, Merciless Savage, Juggling Grenades, Ugly Fashion @ Speakers, Colwyn Bay

(review by mwj)

Friday the 13th lucky for some, as the start of a weekend where 9 bands were seen over two days at a couple of local venues. It was also warmly reassuring for me on such a stormy weekend to see folks turning out, offering a bit of balance to the recent debate on the death of live music. Personally I think it’s always been bumping along the bottom, sometimes it may get better for a while, occasionally it gets worse but the fact is it continues all the same. In some ways North Wales has an advantage of scarcity of gigs, where at least they can be more of an event when they are put together, as opposed to somewhere like Leeds where I was hearing there were literally 17 gigs on one single night. To us bumpkins it may look like they are absolutely spoilt in the big bad cities, but even there there’s just not the number of available and motivated gig goers to mean that the majority of these will succeed as sustainable promotions. Maybe it’s just an extension of personal philosophy for me, but I start with low expectations and am therefore pleased with anything achieved above that.More