Live & Unsigned | Thursday Night at the Edge (22.11.18)
Sometimes the best way to get into new music is by starting at home. Over the two years of Sounds Good being around I’ve had the pleasure to feature various bands from my ends, but haven’t stepped out into the live scene of Essex as much as I’d like. HOWEVER, last Thursday I hung out at The Edge to check out Hippy Joe’s Live & Unsigned night which celebrated the wonderful genre of Punk and Grunge with a lineup of local talent Sabiba, Petty Phase and our favourite boys, The Penny Antics.
First of all, Hippy Joe is a bit of a legend in the local scene. He’s a dude who’s been dedicated to bringing a spotlight to local acts for ages now. I remember going to his live nights at the Castlemayne years ago and am glad to see he’s still killing it these days at The Edge. The venue itself is a pretty sweet spot, and has a stage and lights and everything. Proper fancy. Joe’s Live & Unsigned nights are free entry and feature a different genre each week, so it provides something for everyone. I’m proper tempted to go to the next Acoustic night on the 5th December to check out Ellis McLeod, Jordan Hemmingway, Sam Trowers and Tim Read.
Anyway, back to the night and the acts I saw. First billed were Sabiba, who only arrived with one dude who still went ahead with the show which I found pretty badass. Armed with a guitar and a desire to cover Bohemian Rhapsody, the ears were treated to a mix of pure 90’s Grunge filled with Kurt Cobain-esque vocals and riffs that were heavy with a hint of groove to them. It was a ballsy move to close with the Bohemian Rhapsody cover, but it was pretty glorious nonetheless.
Middle of the night was time for The Penny Antics to do their thing. While I’ve been involved in their music for a couple years now, and even had Sounds Good’s first ever live interview with them earlier this year, I had never seen them live. IT WAS AWESOME, and I’ve been missing out. The duo absolutely tore things up with a set that was filled with aggression, riffs, a cover of the wonderfully titled “I Took a Shit on Your Mum” and MORE AND MORE RIFFS. It was chaotic, frantic and an absolutely joy to watch. It was a little emotional watching them on stage as I felt like they were my babies and I was their proud mother, and luckily they didn’t take a shit on me.
Closing out the night were Petty Phase, an (almost) all female collective who introduced a shiny new drummer who slayed on the skins. We’re oddly connected in the strangest of ways but this quartet killed it with a set that boasted a whole bunch of Punk rock goodness. Frequent dual-vocals danced upon furious riffs of attitude that filled the room with a frantic desire to do an aggressive foot tap or two throughout the set, and it was awesome. They’ve got their new EP coming out on the 14th so be sure to check out a future feature on that!
All in all it was a dead good night and one that definitely made me appreciate the talent of Essex. It’s a local scene that was stuck in a stale Metal-only phase for a while but seems to have blossomed into a world that celebrates all sorts of noises and sounds. I’d love to become a regular attendee of these Live & Unsigned nights, and hope that you’d like to come along too. We could hang out, have a beer or two (I let myself loose with two pints that night. Wild.) and appreciate some good music. It’s free aswell so that makes it even more worth it.
Categories
Sounds Good 