Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Everyone loves a good party, and the folks at Skinny Love have teamed up with local noise manglers Kasper Rosa to throw a wonderful 1st birthday bash for the band and the club night. Party bags and hats are in abundance, and the growing rumble of the crowd is punctuated by the bang of party poppers.

But like all birthdays, this is a time of reflection; an occasion to look at where we are, what has been before, and to ponder what comes ahead.

Making their debut tonight is Like Statues, a five-piece from Lisburn specialising in melodramatic, epic rock. It's not there just yet, with a few mistakes and technical difficulties threatening to derail the set, but there's so much love in the room that they're able to coast along and bring things to a satisfyingly huge conclusion.

More Than Conquerors have quickly established themselves as a major force to be reckoned with in recent months, and tonight they give a demonstration as to exactly why people are talking about them. A livewire energy explodes from the stage straight into the audience and it's very difficult not to be carried away with it all. Songs from their forthcoming EP go down like old favourites, and both band and audience seem plugged into every note. This is a band with their eye on the prize, and it increasingly looks like there's nothing going to stand in their way.

But tonight is all about Kasper Rosa, celebrating their first birthday as a band. The evolution of the band has been incredible, from their early days as an impressive, but slightly generic post-rock band, to their recent status as instrumental pioneers, carving a ground all of their own. No longer fitting easily into any genre, elements of punk, psychedelia, prog rock, and post rock fight with each other for dominance, as the band work their hardest to keep pushing it further and further out. The apocalyptic atmosphere is still in place, but coupled to it now is a pulsating sense of life - a palatable NEED to do something and get involved. If the old Kasper Rosa were standing on the edge of Armageddon, these days they've emerged on the cusp of a new morning, looking to the horizon.

After Kasper Rosa are finished showing exactly where we are RIGHT NOW, Ed Zealous emerge to show us where we've been. The band have been absent from the live scene for quite some time recently, and there's a definite sense of excitement in the crowd about the band, many of whom may indeed have never seen them before. Arguably bands like Panama Kings and Strait Laces owe a debt in their sound to Ed Zealous, and this is an opportunity for many to see what the fuss is all about. However, in the aftermath of Kasper Rosa's righteous fury, Ed Zealous come across like a regular danceable indie band, projecting nothing more than a few good tunes, and the promise of a good evening. It's all pretty well done, with the band throwing all the right shapes, but there's nothing to get INVOLVED with, no special sense that makes you feel like this is what you need to be doing with you life RIGHT NOW! More Than Conquerors have the energy, and Kasper Rosa have the attitude, whilst Ed Zealous have a note perfect Supertramp cover.

Only a fool would write them off as yesterday's news, but they need to be looking a bit further forward than "What's cool now." After all, if we've left behind the past, there's a whole lot of people in this room who seem to view the future as their birthright.

Words: Steven Rainey