Fair do

By Emily Burden

Steve Lynch of Teaspoonriverneck. 0576071

JERSEY got a taste of the Vale Earth Fair when local bands and DJs popped over to invade the Live Lounge.

Altogether 40 people went over to support and spread some Vale Earth Fair love… well, as best they could – drinking started early on the boat.

But I guess that’s what you have to expect with dozens of locals sailing over, with time to kill before the show.

After a day of beer, burgers and pizza, it was time to head to the Live Lounge to show the crapauds how we get down.

The lounge is a venue that Guernsey is lacking. Spread over two floors, downstairs is home to the DJ booth and upstairs accommodates the stage for band performances. The whole place is solely dedicated to live music, painted black and covered in various band posters, old and new. It oozes punk ethnics 101. It is a specialist music club that lends itself to Jersey’s scene, it supports. Which makes you question, why don’t we have one? Especially considering that we have incredible musical talent on the island – Gay Army, Spoonful, Teaspoonriverneck, My Last Victory – the list goes on.

I spent the evening running up and down the stairs trying to catch a glimpse of everybody, which proved difficult.

Starting off the night downstairs were local DJs Barney and Four Q, whose sets were full of diverse genres, ska, reggae, hip-hop, funk and soul.

Four Q has mastered an impressive turntable technique over the years and not many DJs in Guernsey can scratch quite like he can. He has great sense of rhythm and timing, which is essential when wanting to scratch vinyl well. With scratching emerging from the hip-hop genre, Four Q’s set was naturally infused with that, but as his set progressed he added flavours of funk, soul and, at times, breaks and beats. With such a diverse set, he leans away from the DJ clichés of the present time –drum and bass, dubstep and house, and keeps true to the origins. Yet, saying that, even though there’s an old skool flair about him, he manages to keep it fresh and new.

I ran upstairs to see who was on stage and found a Jersey band with a female singer – Gorey Inbreds? – not too sure.

DJ Four Q. 0576072

Their sound reminded me of The Distillers, but I felt the singer’s voice needed an aggressive push to match the likes of Brody Dalle and Courtney Love. The performance was too loose, the band needed to be tighter, especially to carry a woman’s voice that wasn’t loud or strong.

Guernsey band Schema played a much tighter set. The three-piece may have been softer in genre compared with the other bands on the bill, but this didn’t affect the audience reaction. They seem comfortable performing with each other, which is essential to carry well throughout.

Back downstairs things were a bit more rowdy, Four-Q was finishing with the likes of Stanton Warriors and Krafty Kuts.

Oneofakind took over the decks and funked things up. He can weave a variation of genres into one set and it comes across well.

Back upstairs, Jersey band Falenizza Horsepower reminded me of Refused, especially the singer. They fell into a thrash punk genre, fast, hard and aggressive – they were right in your face and it was refreshing. Guernsey has been missing this sort of band since the mighty Limefire.

Our boys Teaspoonriverneck took to the stage next. Their sound had progressed into a much harder grunge. Singer Steve Lynch’s growl sounded at times like Kurt Cobain’s early recordings on Bleach and Insecticide. Upstairs was now packed and sweat was literally dripping off the ceiling.

Downstairs things had got a lot dirtier. Javen was playing his unusual flirtatious set, which the girls loved. He played an array of filthy beats and threw in some classics like House of Pain’s Jump Around. He is a crowd-pleasing DJ who always knows how get the audience going and gets great satisfaction from it as well.

The night was great: full of diverse talent from both local and Jersey bands, who came together to support Vale Earth Fair’s mission.

And hopefully the Earth Fair will see more Jersey visitors this year.