Blood Red Shoes
The Blood Arm
14.06.2006
93 Feet East
The opening band theme of the night seems to be blood. A far cry from metal, the venue is in the heart of Shoreditch, unusually hosted at 93 Feet East. The Blood Arm which we already know to be great, is followed by Blood Red Shoes. An energetic sounding 2-piece, all guitar, drums, and shouting which steers them away from the usual melodic duo formula. I like them already!
Up next are the well awaited, flirty, and fun The Grates. The Aussie trio have been opening for top names like We are Scientists, and more recent claim to fame The Zutons.
The cake party(as it was playfully referred to) was a room of balloons, tea cakes, and brightly coloured merch. Patience is not shy to embrace the attention! Armed with her favourite mic, clad in pink she oozes Blondie sex appeal. You can hear influences of Courtney Love, whilst her stage presence has the relentless energy of Karen-O as she jumps around without skipping a note. The girl has it all! She wraps the audience around her finger with crowd banter, singling out the single boys…”He’s not bad looking. Get the fuck in there girls. Third row from the front in the middle…”
What the band lacks in bass they make up for in backing tracks, and playful energy. Alana looks like a sweetly smiling little girl, as she bangs on her drums with percussion diligence. Predominantly they are a visual band, which encompasses many influences. From the ska feel of “Silence is Golden“, and the contagious Rock ‘n Roll vibrations of “192020“, the audience gets swung round to the Country-esque feel of “Sukkafish“. They have clearly learnt a lot from working closely with producer Brian Deck, who has also worked with the well acclaimed Secret Machines, and Iron and Wine.
What makes them less run-of-the-mill is their youthful friendship on stage, their politeness, unstoppable humour, and circus tricks…in reference to the occasional floor roll, and popping of balloons. Proof that occasionally less can be more, and that keeping it simple works!
Niki Kova’cs
[Photos by Niki Kova’cs]