club WITH NO NAME live review


IN RESPECT OF NIRVANA

7th April 2001
On the 5th of April Kurt Cobain barricaded himself into the granny flat behind his mansion, put a shotgun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. On Thursday April the 7th Cobain was found by a visiting electrician. The world was left to mourn another dead hero and some say the death of grunge. Though Kurt may have gained a world wide audience for his suicide, his achievements in life outweigh the tragedy ten fold and it seems appropriate that the Club with No Name should hold a tribute to the genius of the Nirvana guitarist 7 years to the day of his body being found.

To me this night wasn't about who played the tightest, or who was the "best", it was about being there and celebrating the achievements of one man who had so much still to offer, but had still given so much in his short time.

First to hit the stage was the CWNN's own Chris Lovell accompanied by Dave Reid of The Contrast on guitar. The pair ploughed through a three song set of acoustic versions of favourite opinion. Musically starting a little shaky with "Heart Shaped Box" but progressing in fine style and gaining confidence to finish with a more than authentic version of "Something In The Way". Atmosphere wise, however, there was such a good mood about The Park, it was all about having fun, and that’s exactly what the duo achieved, not every note was perfect but that just evolved into humorous discourse between the crowd and Chris. A perfect opener for the night.

I must warn everyone, my memory becomes a little, well, hazy. Which I firmly believe had nothing to do with the vast quantities of alcohol consumed, which I know isn't very professional, but I'll get professional when I get paid! Anyhow up next was The Poor Relation who tackled the set task by giving us renditions in their own particular acoustic style. Not my personal cup of tea but still well executed and enjoyable to watch and listen to.

Acer was definitely one of my highlights of the night. Incredibly tight, professional and carbon copy like versions of opener "Heart Shaped Box", and my definite favourite "Territorial Pissings". If tonight’s performance is anything to go by Acer are a band that nobody will want to miss next time they're here doing a set of their own songs. Definitely keep one eye firmly glued to Acer. Maybe the only criticism I could possibly come up with was Acer were too good. Too good to accurately reproduce Nirvana's chaotic and loose as hell live show. It's not really a criticism as Nirvana are the only ones who could possibly get away with it, maybe the Sex Pistols as well!

Howard put on, in my humble opinion, a fantastic performance tonight. Interpreting Nirvana songs into a Country and Western style and keeping the attention of 14-year-old Papa Roach T-shirt wearing kids is not an easy task for anyone. It's obvious that this guy has a lot of talent and managed to keep a crowd and receive a good audible volume of applause after each song. Also respect must be unduly given to Howard for writing an original song for and about Kurt.

Now to tonight’s headliners, a band who form for tonight with two hours' practice under their belts, Neutered and Spayed. Taking their name from the liner notes of Nevermind they graced The Park's stage in full Nirvana costume, including blond wig with showing roots! About 5 minutes, actually about 5 seconds into the set opener "Polly" anarchy had gripped the dance floor. Oh no wait, it was actually not the dance floor, but the stage! The postage stamp stage had been turned into a writhing mass of flailing arms and sprawled bodies, yet somehow the trio managed to bang through a half-decent version of "Polly" and an extremely heavy version of "Tourettes". And yes the stage invaders showed no mercy and kindly relieved Mark Knight of his vocal duties and sang for him, using whatever form of microphone they could find, drum mics, cab mics...!

"Lovebuzz" sounded fantastic, chaotic and erratic, just like Kurt would have wanted, and by now the dance floor had followed suit to the stage and was bouncing like a possessed jack in the box. Set closer "Territorial Pissings" followed by a Nirvana style jam was the cherry on the cake, and set the soundtrack for the attempted destruction of a guitar on the stage (no names mentioned) that ended instead in a hole in the stage the size of a head. Looking around after the set all that could be seen were brows dripping with sweat and grins firmly plastered to everyone’s faces. Neutered and Spayed certainly weren't the tightest of the night, but for a few seconds I really felt like I had been taken back in time and managed to get myself into a Nirvana gig. Authentic, energetic and crazy as hell, a fantastic ending of a fun-filled evening.

I know this review is a little positively biased, but to be honest how could it not be? Good music, good atmosphere and a good time had by all. I can't wait to see what the CWNN can do next year to top this one!


Kaz, GIMPmag.


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