She Haunts The Roads dual vocalists Jack Fletcher, left, and Tom Domaille blast it out at the Tav last Saturday. (Picture by Jack Le Tocq)

AS FAR as local music venues go at the moment, The Fermain Tavern is enjoying a healthy vogue at the front of the pack. Donning its new improved pelt, last Saturday it played host to another successful night of live music.

This was the first of what is hoped will be many events, organised by The Future Shock. We were given a taste of the fresh and the familiar and the atmosphere was rife with cheery nostalgia for the local youth rock scene a few years back, these elements all cleverly smuggling into the subconscious mind the idea that 2011 is going to be a good one.

Kicking off the show with their third appearance since debuting in November at Pieces Bar were self-dubbed ‘rock ’n’ core’ outfit She Haunts The Roads.

Despite being a newer act, the band is made up of some well-gigged musicians, some of whom are in other currently active bands. Perhaps the most interesting draw (prior to hearing the band) was the dual vocals, with Jack Fletcher of My Last Victory fame and Brutus Stonefist’s Tom Domaille engaged in some friendly throat sparring. The two have successfully collaborated in the past on stage, though with two singers it was possible that a whole set might expose some redundancies.

But that was not so and the feature added fluidity and depth to the performance as well as the bonus of two focal points, bobbing and weaving about the stage.

Their compact set was diluted in equal parts with three original tracks and three covers of artists such as The Cancer Bats and Every Time I Die. There was a consistency throughout, which suggests to a degree the band’s ability to assimilate influences from these artists – but more saliently demonstrates that the band are already showing confidence in their own voice and are able to easily interpret the music of others without losing their own core.

As far as their original material is concerned, it already seemed well developed – although the sound is hard to classify. Without losing its metal edge and southern rock riffage, the band managed to sustain a constant groove, toxic vocal melodies and a positive undertone throughout. The result is certainly far removed from the funereal flavourings of some heavier acts.

Heavy, but sophisticated: like a mammoth in a stovepipe hat.

In all it was a satisfying performance, one which the band felt to be the best of the three gigs they have played so far in terms of quality and feedback. Perhaps the only downside was its brevity, weighing in at a paltry six songs.

As the set progressed the crowd and band limbered up and the dazzling stage-light show grew more complex and dramatic. The bout was over. This was disappointing in some ways but according to one half of the band’s Siamese-frontmen (Jack Fletcher) this was intended.

‘Our set for the gig was deliberately short and sweet just to give a taster of things to come,’ he said.

This was a running theme for the night – a sense of optimism for this year in music – and there are certainly good things looming for She Haunts The Roads.

So what better way to end a night than with local pop punk rascals 2 Minutes 2 Late.

Familiar by now to most of the audience and armed with an arsenal of cheery, well-known, singalong material, the band were well received. At this stage of the night the crowd was larger and sobriety was beginning to become yesterday’s news.

The band played to their usual tight standard, with all the favourite covers of American pop punk masters such as Blink-182 and Jimmy Eat World, along with a couple of originals. The set was much longer and was delivered in two parts with an intermission – perhaps to make the more traditional theatregoers in the audience feel at ease.

Of course they didn’t leave the stage for the break without singer Ryan Pike lauding a gig-goer’s particularly outstanding hand-crafted Sponge Bob Square Pants costume, with an a cappella rendition of the show’s theme song.

The crowd gladly joined in with this and continued in this vein throughout the second half, where among other things the band played their pop-punk- flavoured takes on some chart-hitting songs, from OutKast’s ‘Hey Ya!’ all the way to ‘Ring of Fire’ by Cash.

The night had served its purpose well. As bassist Stu Le Poidevin said:

‘I thought the atmosphere was amazing – takes me back to five years ago, when gigs were awesome.’

In all it was a great evening, primarily in the message of optimism it brought with it.

Both bands, and punters alike seemed to share a stirring feeling that welcome changes are afoot in the young scene.

With The Future Shock organisers assuring us that big things are on the way, The Fermain Tavern demonstrating its prowess and new acts showing serious promise, things are looking good for 2011.