By Mike Anstis

Hi, are you dancing on the grave of new rave? Do you abhor the bland sounds of recent Indie music? Are you sick of colloquial gimmicks? If you answer yes to all these questions then prepare to find your new favourite band; A Silent Film.
 
The folk of Newcastle were introduced to this 4 piece band in a spectacular way one unassuming Saturday night, as they headlined a tiny gig in the basement of The Head Of Steam. Played by The Arctic Monkeys and Maximo Park on their way to fame it seems apt that A Silent Film landed a set in this intimate venue. Coming on around 9:30 these lads obviously didn’t want to keep their disappointingly sized audience waiting. Either that or they wanted to pack up (as the were roadie-ing for themselves) and get a few beers in.
 
Opening with Sleeping Pills, the enigmatic quartet certainly didn't encourage slumber among the crowd. Pianist/vocalist Robert Stevenson bounced around as he hammered out each perfectly crafted note while his echoing vocals vibrated around the venue as if he was calling out to each and every member of the audience. They played a short set, showcasing songs from their recently released album. One highlight was the performance of the catchy Julie June, accompanied by staccato drumming on two light boxes by Ali Hussain (Bassist) and Lewis Jones (Guitarist). They followed that by a now infamous cover of the dance classic Born Slippy, a risky manoeuvre for a small band, but it was pulled off with elegance. Finishing with the fantastic You Will Leave A Mark, A Silent Film left the crowd dazed by their performance. After hearing such epic stadium filling tunes it seemed bizarre to be standing in the basement of a pub.
 
From small beginnings in Oxford to playing at Glastonbury things do seem to have gone quickly for A Silent Film. Featuring in the yet to be released film "The Butterfly Tattoo" based on a novel by Phillip
Pullman and with their tracks being played on large radio stations, A Silent Film seem destined for bigthings. Certainly one to watch. 
 
Their debut album The City That Sleeps is out now.
 
http://www.myspace.com/asilentfilm

By Megan Tinslay 

On Tuesday 21^st October The View played in Newcastle in the Carling Academy 2, a very small and intimate venue, to promote some of their new songs off the album Which Bitch, coming out around the beginning of next year. This tour sees them travelling around the UK using smaller venues as a way to link back to the beginning when they started touring.When The View came on stage everyone started pushing to get to the front; it was a mixed crowd but mainly seemed quite a young fan base. The View came on stage sometime between 9.30-10pm and opened with a couple of songs from their Hats off to the Buskers album which the crowd loved. After sound checks the mix sounded pretty good and the band seemed like they were enjoying the show and hadn’t had the ten drinks which Kyle had mentioned in an interview earlier (“If you have ten drinks you’re going to be enjoying it a bit more than anybody else there”)!

Their set lasted a little over an hour and they had a few songs for encore including Face for the Radio which we’d heard them playing in their warm up earlier. It seemed strange to have everything end at 11pm due to the curfew on the Academy; the crowd still clearly wanted more. The songs off their new album seemed to go down quite well, but I found it to be mainly songs from Hats off to the Buskers with a few of their new tracks thrown in here and there. The idea is most likely to get a taste of some of their new tracks to hopefully get people interested in buying the new album when it comes out. Obviously some of them will sound quite different when listened to on CD considering some songs have strings in which can’t be put across at a live gig.

They played one acoustic song within the set to break them up a little and their new songs were slightly mixed. I thought that 5Rebecca’s sounded most like their style from their debut album and it was one which the crowd seemed to warm to quickly.

I thought the gig overall went well for the band and I thought it lent itself well to a smaller venue. It was great being able to see them all playing close by and to know you were never too far from the stage. Obviously when they do a bigger tour later next year it will be interesting to see the mix of songs more from the two albums and when the album comes out how their current fan base reacts to it and the impact it makes on the music scene.

The View's current single, 5Rebeccas, is out now

www.myspace.com/dryburgh

By Alex Ward 

The time - 20:30, the place - Newcastle Students Union, the band – our Belgian friends Das Pop. They take to the stage 10 minutes after a glitter-covered transsexual prince lookalike wails whilst shimmy-ing off stage. Literally translated as ‘The Pop’, the unquestionably European boys stay true to their name, hitting the energetic crowd with bass lines, clapathons and catchy choruses with such songs as their new single Underground from the forthcoming self-titled album.

Taking tracks from all their 3 preceding albums, Das Pop produce hits left right and centre with material spanning their entire discography to produce a solid act. Particular crowd pleasers were Fool For Love with a catchy bass line and melodic harmonies and of course, the aforementioned Underground.  

As far as crowd interaction is concerned, their extensive tour experience is evident in their performance. Vocalist and front man Bent (actually his name) did not at any point stop pumping up the eager crowd with zealous clapping and the odd Futureheads-esque singalong, whilst wooly mammoth-guitarist Reinhart, who was seriously wearing dungarees, produced some face-melters as well as some big sweat action. 

Nowadays, when people think of pop they think of Atomic Kitten, S Club and Westlife. Thankfully, the tides seem to be turning; Along with French electro-poppers Phoenix and others, Das Pop seem to be part of an emerging European potential of respectable pop bands. Light-hearted, happy-clappy and surprisingly skillful, these bands have obtained a cult underground status - with Ed Banger boss Busy P playing keyboard on Phoenix’s Funky Squardance and Electronic Heavyweight SebastiAn remixing Das Pop’s Fool For Love.  I, like many other am convinced by Das Pop, and you should be too.