Cold in Berlin / Breton (The Vic, Mile End, London)

Sometimes in London on a night like Halloween, there is simply not a whole lot to do that is going to interest me too much. Parties don't interest me as I'm not much of a social mingler and having spent so many years going to gigs and clubs on my own, I have gotten used to my own company - plus the conversations tend to be better too.
Something else about Halloween is the lack of "looks" that are attributed to people of an obtuse fashionable nature. Occasionally I get odd looks from a few folk when I am wandering about for 364 days of the year, but no one bats an eyelid at me on October 31st - the slightly filthy jacket, dirt brown shoes and messy shirts are an apparent make-up in itself; but my word do people try hard here. Really hard.
There were momentary lapses of concentration when though it would be interesting to slip into skinny jeans and doll myself up as some attempt of an ironic Halloween costume, but I do not have the interest to fall into that (besides I am far too fat to even try).

Unfortunately, pressing business on Sunday morning meant that Saturday was not going be late one, but being bored into near unconsciousness led me to throwing on random threads and heading to the Vic in Mile End, where local promoters, London Is Dead, were showcasing 12 acts over the course of 12 long hours with a Halloween-ish theme; however I only caught the last three (because it's all I could be arsed with).

At this stage Advert had just finished and Breton were setting up, but for the second time in the space of a week, I was met by a band that were having massive set-up problems and what should have been a short changeover became 30 minutes of watching a band put their equipment together - for a 20 minute set. Bit-by-bit, boredom seemed to set in and more and more people split for a cigarette, but when Breton did eventually get going, this reviewer was glad to have stayed around.
Consisting of just a drummer and what one can only call a multi-tasking frontman, Breton launched into what can only be described as a formless and delay soaked post-punk/funk reminiscent of A Certain Ratio and newer elements of Bloc Party - and they were quite fantastic. It would be very easy to see how this band would work perfectly as a three-piece and it later transpired that their bassist was ill after a dodgy trip, but regardless of the loss of one-third of their band, they were gripping throughout. The short set consisted of three pieces of very danceable music that segued into one solid medley and I would most certainly be interested in seeing them perform again.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said of Demontre whose rendition of formulaic rock nearly sent me to sleep and for the most part, the crowd felt the same way too. In fairness to them, they had a couple of drunken teenagers that appeared to know the words bouncing up front with them, but left me feeling incredibly nonplussed - musical beige with distortion pedal. Without wishing to appear too... whiny regarding media content, I swear they have just soaked up many myths of shoegaze and rock and converted them to the stage; but they are young and might still learn (or not at all).

Last up were Cold in Berlin - formerly known as Death Cigarettes. Of all three artists that were caught tonight, Cold in Berlin showcased the advantage of a good front-person as (name of nameless person) writhed around the stage with a haunted energy to add to the ferocity of the musicians behind her.
Somewhat reminiscent of gothic post-punk nature Siouxsie and the Banshees and the urgency of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cold in Berlin romped through their set with fervour that I have not seen from a local artist for some time.
They are launching their new single at the Old Blue Last on Old Street on Tuesday December 1st - it would be amazing if they could release some information about (i.e. - what it is called or where it will be available would be helpful), but I suppose you can't have everything in life.

Such a shame that when I got home I couldn't get close to sleep - a party was raging downstairs and one couldn't help but stare out the window at the drunken youth in t-shirts with fake blood stains. Maybe they should try wearing that on the tube on Monday morning and see how much of a tit they feel like; how or never, it is nice to see that the sentiment of Halloween by the Dead Kennedys is still very relevant in these modern times.

Breton MySpace
Demontre MySpace
Cold in Berlin MySpace


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