Fez At Dublin Castle March 2010


One of the great things about the venues in Camden is the ease of parking in the evening and once again I was able to park pretty well outside the venue before heading in to Dublin Castle to see Fez.

Fez

Fez

The whole journey down to London had been so easy in fact, that I arrived early, so early that Fez were still going through sound-checks. Not to put them off, I took the opportunity to say a quick hi to the guys and left them to it.

Although Dublin Castle can be a busy pub and it was on Friday night, getting served at the bar is a breeze, as the bar staff whip through rounds and able to take orders for the next set of drinks while still dealing with the last punter… no I know this wasn’t meant to be a pub review and drinking soft drinks, due to driving, officer, I couldn’t attest to the quality of the alcohol.

When I headed back in to the music area, it was already getting pretty full, with more people coming through the doors, by the time Fez kicked off with Low Light, there wasn’t a great deal of space. Either the guys paid their fans to travel to create the atmosphere, or their is a genuine affection for the band from those in the know. I somehow think to pay off that many fans would have been pretty dear, so can I think safely err on the side, that to this is a band who find a place in the heart of their fans.

As the first band on, with a night running 4 bands, receiving applause for just getting on the stage, is pretty good going. Far more importantly the music lives up to expectations, as they kicked off with the high energy good humoured output for which they are known. The dramatic effect of multiple guitar and multiple vocal gives them a great depth, which is not permitted to flow over in to a discord of noise, but retains a tight and sharp focus.

My Teeth had the enthusiastic audience singing along and and the band had relaxed in to the set. The powerful drum and piercing guitar left very few in the audience standing still.

Chemicals which opens with a direct reference to The Beatles, suddenly picked up pace and the voice of Will, strident with a superb polemic. This is a difficult song to control as the band rushes to join the argument and they held it together superbly.

Suddenly we were on to the last number in the seven number half hour set, with Success came slowly, and a palpable sense of disappointment shivered through the crowd. For the four minutes left of the set, the fans who had travelled, ensured they made the most of it in a frenzy activity that would have done credit to the warning alarm of an imminent nuclear attack.

As the applause died away and the band came off stage, so the music area emptied. I did head back later to see a couple of the bands and the room appeared to have grown considerably inside. 1st band on, by far the most enthusiastic audience, perhaps the bookers need to take a look at this again.

In addition to the guitars, Fez also make use of keyboard for one song in the set, which on the face of it made me think they were loosing the plot, but the use of the additional instrumentation was a smart move as the out-put retains its anthemic quality, while generating a more complex composition.

I would recommend a trip out to see Fez next time they are near you. For more on Fez.

As I said in my email Alex, sorry I didn’t get a chance to catch up with you afterwards, but I had an early start the next day and I hope you got some good news from the scouts.

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