Gary War @Portland Arms Cambridge

14th January Amsterdam OCCII 20:00

15th January Dresden Ost-Pol 20:00

16th January Berlin West Berlin 20:00

17th January Prague Klub 007 20:00

18th January Geneva Cave 12 20:00

19th January Milan Dauntaun 20:00

20th January Terragona The Loop Bar 20:00

21st January Madrid El Perro Club 20:00

22nd January Lisbon ZBD Gallery 20:00

23rd January Porto Casa Da Musica 20:00

For more on Gary War including a review of the gig in Cambridge this month

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Gary War @Portland Arms Cambridge

Things have moved on apace for Gary War and the band now very firmly comprises Greg (Guitar and Vocal), Eli (drum-pad) and Justin (bass), Greg’s girlfriend is also in the band, but wasn’t able to come on this tour. Planned releases are in the pipeline.

The Portland Arms in Cambridge is a small venue, but has the great advantage as a University City of being a location which draws a disparate group of fans.

I arrived slightly early and was able to spend a while speaking to the guys before they took to the stage. These are undoubtedly musicians who live for their craft and have highly intuitive and creative skills. When I talked about a set list, I was met with a wry smile and Greg let me know, he would give me the set list once they found out what it had been, such is the tight fit and competence of the band in reading the audience, allied to which Greg is a prolific writer so they have plenty of material to draw on as the mood of the evening saw best, what else could I have expected from a highly experimental group of musicians?

The band let their music do all of the talking, with Greg introducing the band after the first song, No Pay Off and closing the set at the end of Good Clues, in-between those two songs, were another six tracks.

The stage at the feet of the band is littered with pedals, on speaking to Justin after the show, this was a relatively pedal free night, only 15 pedals in use by the three musicians. The songs flowed superbly one into another and absolutely true to form Gary War judged the mood of the crowd to perfection, after three stretching tracks they came back with the much faster more mainstream, as far as it is ever possible to call Gary War mainstream, Everynight, following that with the superb Highspeed Drift.

In a live performance the guitar speed of Greg is stunning to watch, strumming in a high speed blur, as the use of extreme voice echo, bass and the tempo of the drum-pad all resonate at a far slower pace.

The mixture of tunes taken from the album Horribles Parade * interspersed with newer pieces showcase the band as the highly effective experimental band they are. With the ability to read the mood of the audience and a huge wealth of material to draw on they are not only highly capable musicians, but acutely aware of where the gig is going.

A great set, but unlikely to be the one you will hear if you get to see them and I would recommend an evening out to watch the band. As I mentioned on my original article on Gary War, whilst experimental, they are not inaccessible and the output doesn’t sound in the least forced or pretentious, bearing in mind the sheer technical creativity surrounding the output, this is no mean feat.

Thanks for the email Greg, great to meet up with you all and good luck with the rest of the tour.

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*purchases made using the  link will result in the indie bands blog earning a commission.

Gary War

Tour dates for January 2010

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January 5th, 2010
Manchester, England
TBA
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January 6th, 2010
Dublin, Ireland
Whelan’s (Upstairs)
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January 7th, 2010
Belfast, Northern Ireland
TBC
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January 8th, 2010
Glasgow, Scotland
TBA
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January 9th, 2010
Newcastle, England
Star & Shadow
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January 10th, 2010
TBC
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January 11th, 2010
Brighton, England
Sex Is Disgusting
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January 12th, 2010
London, England
The Lexington
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More information about Gary War

Jon and Lynn

Band of the week: Top 10. Saturday 31st October 2009.

1. Jon and Lynn USA (unchanged)
2. Dinah Wants Religion Sweden (New entry)
3. The Steepwater Band US (New entry)
4. Krakatoa UK (New entry)
5. The Gadsdens UK (+ 2 places)
6. Chicros France (New entry)
7. The Drums USA (- 2 places)
8. The XX UK (re-entry)
9. The Fury! UK (- 7 places)
10. Gary War USA (- 4 places)

Jon and Lynn from the USA, have remained at number one on the Indie Band Blog Band of the week chart. Currently undertaking an increasing number of performances and working on some new material, which we will get to you as soon as we are able.

Band of the week: Top 10. Saturday 24th October 2009.

1. Jon and Lynn USA (+ 1 place)
2. The Fury! UK (new entry)
3. Ofeliadorme Italy (new entry)
4. Mono Stereo Sweden (- 3 places)
5. The Drums USA (- 2 places)
6. Gary War – USA (+ 3 places)
7. The Gadsdens UK (- 1 place)
8. Brittni Paiva USA (new entry)
9. Jointpop Trinidad and Tobago (re-entry)
10. Juliet Gough Denmark (- 6 places)

Jon and Lynn

Jon and Lynn from the USA, have taken back the top spot in the indie bands chart. Their recent releases have been particularly popular, as the bass and vocal duo continue to develop output.

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The Drums No1 Indie bands chart

Band of the week: Top 10. Saturday 3rd October 2009.

1. The Drums USA (+ 2 places)
2. Jon and Lynn USA (- 1 place)
3. Juliet Gough Denmark (unchanged)
4. Vaqueros Paganos Argentina (unchanged)
5. Gary War – USA (+ 5 places)
6. The Gadsdens – UK (new entry)
7. The Swing Movement UK (+1 place)
8. Bauchklang – Austria (new entry)
9. Jointpop – Trinidad and Tobago (new entry)
10. The XX UK (-1 place)

The Drums with their surf indie pop and sounds reminiscent of Joy Division have been stalwarts on the Indie Bands chart and have climbed to the number one spot. Their recent release -  Summertime, has taken off around the world, with visitors arriving to the pages from throughout the globe, they are about to start a European tour, information to follow soon.

The indie bands blog reviewed the Summertime – EP on 22nd September

Band of the week: Top 10. Saturday 3rd October 2009.

1. Jon and Lynn US (New entry)
2. Juliet Gough Denmark (new entry)
3. The Drums US (-1 place)
4. Vaqueros Paganos Argentina (+1 place)
5. Negro Fluo Argentina (-4 places)
6. Operator Six UK (new entry)
7. The Five One US (-4 places)
8. The Swing Movement UK (-4 places)
9. The XX UK (-3 places)
10. Gary War – USA (new entry)

Jon and Lynn literally started by jamming together around a kitchen table and immediately found a connection between each other and the music they were creating, which comes across in their work.  The duo also discovered matches in their eclectic musical and artistic interests, which enables them to comfortably explore a wide range of styles and approaches to the music.

Jon and Lynn

Classically trained and with a background in Jazz, the stylistic output of Jon and Lynn, has enabled Jon to develop new ways of using an instrument he has played for years. Lynn has used her background in acting, musical theatre and singing, to great effect, with intuitive ability to express the sentiments of a lyric, while picking up the centre pitch from a bass note.

Much more is planned from the Duo and they have already laid plans for a new video. As soon as we have more on that, you can be sure the Indie Bands Blog will keep you informed.

The electronic buzz which resonates through the music, with heavily textured vocal generates  superb Sci-fi indie (is that a real genre? – well it is now). Gary War creates an unmistakable sound, that appears immediately familiar, but is completely fresh and new.

Gary War courtesy SHDWPLY records myspace

The extensive use of synths are reminiscent of ’80s new wave bands, this combines with complex mixing which has the feel of underground sci-fi films and psychedelic rock of the late ’70s. By combining these elements Gary War creates something new and compelling.

I am reminded of so many bands when listening to this music, yet it is none of them. Hawkwind, Kraftwerk and that Synth could be any of the new romantics.

Gary War does so much more with the music as the tracks weave through what on the face of it, seems to be an unstructured course. This seeming crash course is a disaster when attempted by many. War, however pulls it all out of the bag, creating a sound which when it hits your ears has an order and sense about it and music which is great to write about on the indie bands blog.

myspace

The Gary War album – Horribles Parade is well worth a listen .*

Keep tuned to indie bands blog for more creative emerging indie bands from around the world. For more on Gary War.

* if you purchase through the itunes link, the indie bands blog will receive a commission.