Have just returned from seeing Heaven's Basement at Barfly with Kitty Moran and McTizz. I don't know what I was expecting, but they certainly surpassed it. Their website says they'll make people fall back in love with rock and roll, and I believe they will. I can't believe they're still unsigned, but I can tell you that they won't be for long. They already have quite the following, and several of that number turned out tonight in skinny jeans vying for autographs and high-fives.
I was standing right smack in the middle of the second-ish row taking photos, like everyone else. I have never seen so many cameras and phones out for so long. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the future. At one point the lead guitarist Sid got ahold of someone's phone, filmed the lead singer Richie and the crowd, then handed it back to its owner.
This is the lead guitarist that, for a period of time, played his guitar behind his head. Well.
He was one of the best guitarists I've seen up close. He was also giving some of the girls in the crowd "that look -- the one that works" at the same time. Multi-tasking. Effective.
As for Richie, he proclaimed he was glad to be back home in "an accent that could melt better" (I believe, was what Kitty said) and Cardiff was glad to have him. There was a significant degree of reverence from such a small crowd in such a small bar, and Heaven's Basement did not disappoint. They were wildly talented and indulgent headliners, and I can only see them getting bigger from here. From a completely cynical perspective, you can't go wrong with a group of hard rockers who are
that pretty.
Still, when you see them, the prettiness really isn't the first thing that strikes you. In fairness, the first thing that struck me was that Jonny Rocker's extra long cardigan and skinny black jeans combo was both trendier and girlier than anything I own, but that was just me. Much more apparent in person is the intensity with which they play and the raw quality of the music. It was thoroughly enjoyable and over too quickly.
Kudos to new bass player Rob for fitting in so well -- I had no idea he hadn't been playing with them since the beginning.
On a side note, met drummer Chris afterwards to say thank you for the interivew, etc, and he was absolutely lovely. Let the record show that Heaven's Basement are very nice and they support their indie magazines. Hooray!
PS - Support band Dear Superstar were a lot of fun, particularly their thrash-punk cover of the Kinks'
Lola. The bands showed their influences on their t-shirts - The Misfits & Ramones - and that made me smile. Hope to hear more from them in the future.
For more on Heaven's Basement, check out Issue 3 (which is out now, and beautiful) via the
website. You can also check out the best of the best photos from the show
here.
That's awesome.
