This past Saturday – September 25th – the London-based synth-poppers Tubelord played at Lincoln’s SCY venue as part of their mammoth UK tour. Covering all areas of the UK and Ireland, Tubelord alongside fellow touring partners Tall Ships, have been destroying venues and leaving a lasting mark in the minds of all those in attendance.
Despite Tubelord arriving for sound check an hour and a half late (due to traffic problems), the gig still started on schedule. Starting the night were Sleaford based alternative rockers Paperface. Despite the venue not being particularly full during their set, the trio managed to stir up a hugely positive response.
Managing to cram as much as possible into their 25 minute set, Paperface were all about the music with very little talking from frontmen James Palmer and Ben Kutzner. Drummer Karina Lawrence stole the show with her energetic and skilful performance. Ending on a brand new unnamed instrumental track, akin to the likes of 65daysofstatic and Maybeshewill, Paperface had the growing crowd on their side. These guys will hopefully reach bigger things, and their debut EP “If We Were Cats” is available from their MySpace.
Following Paperface are Lincoln favourites Prisms. With the crowd still growing, the Lincoln quartet plunged straight into “I’m Not A Murderer” with some fantastic vocal work from all four members. Influenced by the likes of Tubelord and Blakfish, these math-rockers managed to get the crowd pumped up.
Songs such as “Charming Holly Valance” and “Square Dancing With Jerry Bruckheimer” got the Lincoln crowd edging ever closer to the stage and moving to the music. Ending on “Bernard’s Watch” – written about the 90s TV show – Prisms were given a great reception and gave the show a sense of pace as the bands just kept getting better.
Sub-headlining the night’s show were Tubelord’s touring partners Tall Ships. Hailing from Falmouth via Brighton, this trio of electro indie rockers managed to create a sound so much bigger than you thought imaginable. Utilising samplers, synths, guitars, bass and drums these guys put on an amazing show.
Playing a number of songs from their upcoming EP “There Is Nothing But Chemistry Here” the crowd were lapping it up. Despite the majority of the audience not necessarily knowing the songs being played, everyone was in agreement that Tall Ships are going to be a big deal in music.
Once ten o’clock rolled around Tubelord took to the stage to a huge ovation from the still amassing crowd. The throng of people were all pushing their way to the front in order to see the quartet do what they do best. For this tour though, singer Joe Prendergast was stepping down from vocal duties due to throat problems and Alan Welsh from Colour took over.
As the crowd pushed closer together and further toward the stage the sense of intimacy became more apparent. Tubelord are getting more famous as time rolls on, but they’re still able to tour small venues and give the music a stronger sense of atmosphere.
With a set full of fan-favourites and new songs, the lively audience kept the party going throughout. Their debut album was released last year and it seemed everyone had a copy and memorised every nuance of the music. “Your Bed Is Kind Of Frightening” and “Night Of Pencils” gained a fantastic response and the moshing didn’t stop for the whole set. “Ratchet” from their latest EP “Tezcatlipoca” shook the PA system to its core with the heavy bass coming from the synth and spurred on more dancing.
Ending on a mind-blowing rendition of latest single “Propeller” the crowd went crazy. However once the song was ending, Joe climbed into his fans and was crowdsurfed around the room until he grabbed onto the rigging on the ceiling. The rigging held up the air conditioning and was swinging as Joe tried to climb on top of it, but the security at SCY managed to get him down before any damage was caused.
When the song ended though the venue was ordered to be emptied as soon as possible, which left a sour taste in the mouths of the crowd as there was no time to meet the band. Despite this, Tubelord were flawless in their energy and performance. Something which is nice to see from a band who are still small, but are guaranteed to grow.