LIVE

Rip It Up, Issue 60, 1 July 1982, Page 6

LIVE

Grammar Boys Wild Matadors Rumba Bar, June 25. I only managed to catch the last 15 minutes of the Wild Matadors' set. Couple of rockabilly tracks,, a T Rex cover, and then to close, a wonderful footstomping version of Gary Glitter's 'Rock 'n' Roll'. ;■ The Grammar Boys are the remnants of one of Auckland's semi-cult bands of last year which played infrequently, released a single, made an ad for TV, then sank without a trace, until now. Out of the ashes of that band

comes the Grammar Boys, with a newly-adopted serious attitude to their profession. They are Simon Alexander (vocals, guitar), Geoff Martin (bass, vocals) and Martin Williams (drums, vocals).

Unfortunately, their debut was marred by the almost total lack of monitors, so their sound (and their audience) suffered accordingly. Their set coupled originals with covers of Beatles and XTC, amongst others. After a short break to try and do something about the sound quality, they bounced back with the quirky 'lncognito' and the most fully realised original of the night, 'Are You Happy Now?' And yes, they did do 'Only You Tonight', and no, they didn't do 'Milk's

Okay By Me'. • Apparently Australia beckons, so if they tighten up their sound and write more songs in the calibre of 'Are You Happy Now?' they should do well. Footnote: The advertisement in the paper said the Garage Crawlers were playing as well. Did I miss them? Barry Morris This Sporting Life, Nocturnal Projections, Fishschool, Coalition, Silly. St Benedicts Hall, July 2. In a big old wooden hall, five bands took to the stage, some with a vengeance, only to be swallowed up by a black hole of echo and dis-

tortion. With the edge blunted, the promise of any insight or enjoyment went out the window this seemed to suit the primal scream of Silly, right down to the ground. Openers the Nocturnal Projections kept it simple, their all original set was paced fast and furious. As Peter Jefferies doesn't warble or scream the NPs have been lumped with a Joy Division tag, and while to an extent derivative, nothing could be further from the truth. The NPs are a band I'd pay money to see any day. This Sporting Life made the most sense, penetrating the pea soup occasionally. Where their set at the Reverb Room a couple of weeks ago hung wildly on the

verge of chaos, such tension was gone to the wind here. The rest of the night was taken up by newer bands, Fishschool (Kevin Hawkins, Jessica Walker, Chris Plimmer) and Coalition. Bored teenagers are still with us behind this brand of cacophony.

Bending over backwards to please their peers is only a hindrance. Comperes being the rage these days, Chris Knox generally looned about stealing everybody else's limelight) but provided much needed comic relief. Mark Moss