Galitza @ The Vine
By Dave ProcterIt's an early festive treat for punters at The Vine, although when I arrive it looks like a makeshift Berlin Wall made of sheets has been erected, with the bizarre prospect of a gig one side, and a huge fucker of a piss up with 70 quid plus rounds on the other. Tonight's opening turn is the Morricone brotherless Dave Cooke, not as might be expected doing a Being 747 greatest hits set, but a decent selection of the likely tunes to appear on his forthcoming solo LP on Wrath. Tunes as per usual, melodies of course and country in all its shapes and denominations.
Following Cookie is the revelation of October's Wrathstonbury, the mighty supergroup that is Mi Mye. As soon as they hit the stage, amiable frontman Jamie announces they're only doing 1 Mi Mye song - knowing for a fact that the set is 20 minutes long, I'm left wondering what sort of twisted prog-country nightmare "Artificial Upward Wind Machines" might turn into - we'll never find out children, as after 3 minutes it stops. Thereafter comes the most brilliant medley of Xmas songs that even Scrooge himself would have chuckled. It begins with "Merry Xmas Everyone" by Shaky, with fine brass provided by Dr Robochrist and Mr Neil and concludes 10 or so minutes later with everyone playing a different note each at the end of "Have Yourselves A Merry Little Xmas". Nice.
Falconetti find this a bit hard to follow, but their big change of tempo, scene and feel via some brooding, bass heavy and brainscraping soundscapes goes down well enough with the gathered masses out front.
Galitza attack the stage so much from the word go that 2 guitars die during the first track. Good. As has been demonstrated before, if you've seen them before, this band know how to write tunes and more importantly how to deliver them. Ekker and Simon keep everything tight at the back, allowing Bill, Steve and Emma the opportunity to stroke, thrash and belt their guitars while delivering sweet 3 part vocal harmonies over wonderful, melodic pieces. I suppose by now I should know the song titles, but I don't. Nothing really sticks out as being the best song, but that's due to the quality throughout. What's not normal though is the encore - "You Must Be The Devil" is quite simply a killer heartbreaker of a tune. Worthy of the entrance fee alone, I suspect. Watch out for forthcoming Wrath EP "The Flame Of Flames" - the prospects are very good indeed.
