Gig Report - Southend Chinnerys - Trash Monroe, Minerva Falls, Greenleaf56

< Mike Smith of Greenleaf56 showed signs of an electrical back-feed when playing his guitar

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On a cold and dark evening on Easter Sunday, Southend Chinnerys was host to three exciting rock bands, first to grace the venues sought after stage was Greenleaf56 who have not been on the circuit for around a year. As the crowds began to grow and the music began to find its way from input to output, Greenleaf56 let rip on stage with what seemed a longer than expected set, but the stage was set for the rest of the evenings bands. Having not seen these guys before judgement was reserved and yet for a band who has not been playing live for around a year, they certainly proved they had not rusted up and fell away into the shadows. The use of a variation of song structures gave them a positive reception from the crowd and not only that but they did not look at each musician for indications of what note or piece should be played next. However, the bassist when delivering the harsh vocals was a little forced, but post-show the reason behind the poor vocals was learned and thus therefore acceptance was made. Furthermore the bassist seemed to lack movement unlike the guitarist who performed with such gusto, it would make Jimi Hendrix impressed, rocking away and melting faces along the way, just in time to make the exit and hand over the sauna-like-stage (apparently it was hot up there) to the second band of the evening, Basildon's Minerva Falls.

[6.5]

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"You see? This is the note we're meant to be playing you know?" >

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It was tough for Minerva Falls to carry on the rock atmosphere now firmly instilled amongst the crowd and walls of this fabled venue alike, but with utmost oomph, pomp and circumstance the laddies done it with no sweat, ok maybe there was a little but it was intoxicated with rock minerals. As a result the Bas Vegas group sweltered out their unique twist on Hard Rock and experimental music as it was anyone's guess on what they were supposed to be playing, at times there was a female keyboardist on stage playing and so the sound was constantly changing, pretty much like the bar staff that night. But Minerva Falls delivered a sensational performance and once again was the first time witnessed so harsh criticisms were retained until next time, but the only negative occurrence all evening was the sound issues that caused a delay in the gig to start and a shortening of the last band's set, but before that Minerva Falls pummeled the ground so hard it sent ripples across the road and a tidal wave shot up the Thames estuary (surf's up dude). Overall the quintet passed over a performance that shall be resurfacing sometime soon one hopes, if not then the pincers will be utilized. Speaking of pincers, things were hotting up as the last band Trash Monroe eyed up the vacant spot and before the audience realized it, it was Southend on Southend!

[7]

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< One fan showed his love for Trash Monroe by lining up to give Ken Mortimer a smooch on the lips.

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And so it came down to the headlining band for the evening, Southend's very own punk-cross-emo-cross-rock-cross-in_your_face-cross shot rock perfectionists Trash Monroe. Spurred on by the over-driven crowd from the two earlier acts, Trash Monroe made it a home run as they slaughtered their home town once again with their infectious, juicy and personalized style of rock music. Every time this band performs, they always seem to amaze and this time round was no exception, besides the fact there was a sudden influx of guys in the room as Melany Dantes wore a Gothic little number that got every tipsy guy in the room sharpening their lead pencil, even sharper than that was the band's incredible live sound, it was as if God gave them the key to bring back every legendary rocker back to life, the sound was greater than any band performing at Wembley Arena. The band meant it, guitarist Brad Hurr represented an emo / punk variation of Indian Jones as he clambered on the stage barrier, fiddled with ceiling lights and ultimately made Johnny Depp look less lush as Jack Sparrow. All in all Trash Monroe delivered a set that equated to the ticket price, even surpassing it. The only saddening thing was because of continuing sound issues they had to cut their set short, the crowd sympathized and as they filtered out, each band who played tonight proved why Essex has the strongest rock music going on a county level.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON