Local up-and-coming stars of the sludge scene, Undersmile, open the night – although they really deserve to be higher up tonight's bill. Undersmile's songs are slow, very slow, rarely clocking much under the 10 minute mark, and can be likened to Melvins or Harvey Milk. Taz and Hel provide haunting/droning (delete according to taste) vocal harmonies. Their music is characterised by a feeling of impending doom, or to paraphrase one young lady, it feels like you're about to be stabbed in the chest... but in a good way. Sweet.
Caravan of Whores are next to take to the stage. Their name is either genius or terrible, and I can't quite decide which. Their music doesn't quite evoke such strong ambivalence, but rather lies somewhere in the middle. I suppose I enjoyed the set, but it was nothing to write home about. Sorry, mum.
I have a similar experience with Domes of Silence. They're very tight and have some solid riffs and they are not BAD, but they fit about halfway in between Kyuss and Status Quo, and I'm not so sure how I feel about that. Not entirely great, I don't think.
Beard of Zeuss are headlining tonight, and the turnout is pretty astounding for Oxford's somewhat apathetic music scene. And, rightly so. Beard of Zeuss are an amazingly underrated band who really should have a lot more attention than they get. They are far from well rehearsed tonight, perhaps due to the frontman, Will's, move away from Oxford, but they laugh it off with the audience and make up for it with sheer spirit and some great songs.
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