aaamusic | On 19, Apr 2012

London, 4th April

Jonny Cola and the A-Grades have a short set tonight and run through their set like a flash of lightning from a glam disco ball. I love the bands music but their is a distinctive lack of banter from them tonight which kind of kills the glamtastic ness of there normally display, I think this is due to lack of time. The songs really stand up and you realize why this band are award winning and are getting a lot of attention from the press and the alternative rock sector. They always look like a 90’s Suede which is always a good thing and Jonny Cola’s camp persona is an awesome thing to watch as he prances around the stage like a Jarvis Cocker on acid. This band are going to go far, I would just like to see them upping their game a bit and not to get so complaisant.

David Devant and his Spirit Wife don’t play a lot of shows and tonight see’s the venue packed by the time they go on. He is dressed to the nines with sparkle-tastic glitter big quiffed hair and a rain Mack he has stolen off a pervert in the park. He plays keyboards and guitar switching back and forth for various songs in the set. I used to see David Devant all the time and the silly-ness that surrounds the band is a little less than it used to be which is a real shame. They have seemed to go down a more serious route which I don’t think really works so well. It’s a pleasure to hear old songs like ‘Cookie’ again which really stand the test of time and is as catchy as it has always been. The other highlights of the set are the guitarist playing haunting tones on a saw which he probably uses in his spare time to saw people in half and the 90’s Chris Evans anthem Ginger which was a big hit all over the country, you could hear this song on Radio 1 everyday of the week. Which brings the set to the highest notes possible as they come back on to play ‘Mabel’ which has it’s usual chanting appeal and he ask the crowd to tell him a modern pop song, you realise that pop at the moment is not that good cause people really struggle to think of a modem pop song other than songs from Lady GaGa’s back catalogue. A few years a go people would have had loads of classic modern pop songs to shout out but I think pop music has gone so far away from alternative rock with not so many pop cross overs. He then breaks into a cross between Cypress Hills ‘Insane in the Membrane’ mixed with Mud’s ‘Tiger Feet’ while the drummer plays a Casino type keyboard it’s quite breath taking as he peers over the crowd and his the highlight of his set.
David Devant and his spirit Wife – Setlist
————————————-
Weather Man
White Horses
Holiday
Cookie
Demons
Whatever
Jim
Manhattan
Pimlico
Real World
About It
Ginger
———–
Mabel

Author: Daniel Cairns

Photos: Luca Viola