Cafe Saturday 7 March

Generals Kemp, George and Worth made out a much better case for their three piece format than they did at Sweet waters. General opinion there was that they didn't line up to the prime time slot they occupied, evident by the number of cans and other flotsam that littered the stage. However, after a long-ish break they whipped into a creditable version of the Police's Bed's too Big. The smaller venue and more intimate atmosphere obviusly suited the band better than the mega-stage of Sweetwaters. Various newish-wave, pop covers followed (XTC's Difficulty, Generals and Majors, Gabriel's Modern Love) which were punchy, well sung and danceable. The crowd was raging by this time, and the band did one of its originals, XTC meets Little Feat, which went down well. Still doing Back in the USSR. Yes, well, great harmonies anyway.

Scientists Burn Up

After another long break, and a quick breather in the cool evening air for many, Top Scientists hit the stage with Burn Out - appropriate in more than one way in the rather badly ventilated cafe. Lead singer, Nick Bryant sings with conviction, and no wonder, looking at the age of these guys. Solid drums, straight and clean, with a full bass sound made for a relatively straight format for these rock 'n' roll veterans. Nevertheless, they had touches of reggae, blues, country and most of all pop to shape their version of what must be called "pub rock". The songs were forceful but not memorable or catchy, the music often developing (or degenerating) into a wall of sound blues-rock texture. The Rough Justice heritage is very strong, but the pop intentions of this outfit are still to be found in the tighter, more economical song structures, tidy guitar work and avoidance of any one musical idiom (eg blues). Covers of Dave Edmund's Girls Talk and Parker's Heatwave were sound-alike but perfectly appropriate in their muscular, professional sound.

Union Hall Better?

Sound quality at this gig was above average once people started filling up the cafe's hideously resonant acoustic space, and plenty of people there were too. You gotta sweat! I prefer the Union Hall for a large rock show mainly because of the visual aspect (low ceilings in the cafe) and the ability to get away from the crush once in while. A good night - pity they are splitting up.

Clarke Gregory