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amplifyer review

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amplifyer review

The younger generation?

AMPLIFIER, PJ MCGINTIES APRIL 26TH.

Amplifier is an event organised by Ipswich’s CSV media clubhouse, (or possibly someone higher up than that, that I haven’t heard of!) for people aged 11-25 that are into rock/alternative. I went along last Sunday to see one of my very old friends sing for the very first time and I was surprised at the everyone-knows-everyone atmosphere. I mean the kids on stage obviously weren’t embarrassed or nervous and I was one of the only unfamiliar people there. Most of the performances I saw were obviously not rehearsed, professional or fully developed but I saw a lot of potential in Ipswich’s younger alternative scene, which seems a lot more tightly-knit than the more adult version. I talked to a few kids from local bands and I noticed a really good response to the whole setup…

Alice and Sam from “Sunday Come Again” play a particularly soulful brand of acoustic ballad-style rock, with powerful girly-rock vocals from Alice and beautifully unpolished guitar from Sam, who, as am I told is pretty much self-taught. “Sunday Come Again” is very DIY, they formed by accident, discovering Alice’s unique voice whilst in the death-throes of their old band in which they “…just sat around and got stoned…” With Alice and Sam both jointly writing songs, S.C.A are very lyrically motivated, with influences that include Alice’s brothers’ (Tom Russell) poetry. They performed and were interviewed on Ipswich Community Radio but are still relatively unheard of…I encourage everyone to look them up as I get the feeling they could go far with the original and unpretentious talent they share.

Ivan from “Lithium”, a local teenage band whose gigs have included playing the Steamboat Tavern in Ipswich with well-known local bands such as “The Washouts”. (I’ve seen Lithium perhaps all of two times and I swear they’ve developed immensely from the first to the second. Bizarrely, they seem to be headed in more of a traditional skater-punk direction than the other bands I saw) His thoughts on Amplifier were that it’s “a great opportunity for kids to go to see and perform music in pubs and atmospheres that they couldn’t normally.” Ivan, another one of Amplifiers’ self-taught guitarists, is influenced by lots of indie, ska, punk and alternative bands, some of them local-like “The Ballistics”, idolises Spiderman and Tim Armstrong and wants to play professionally or … “get somewhere at least”.

I spoke to the guitarist from “Hello Fleet Street” who said… “amplifier is great for the exposure of young musicians…” and that the reason he plays, the reason he got into music was because he “heard music, wanted to be a part of the whole thing and now music has become a huge part of his life. He would really like to carry on with music and imagines himself playing professionally; if not it’ll still be a big part of his life, even as a hobby.” The influences on hello fleet street, particularly this guy, are as follows…Poison, Skid Row, Lamb of God and general 80’s glam rock! His thoughts on the local alternative scene are that Ipswich’s scene is awesome compared to Colchester and Cambridge.

I think that this scheme is a great introduction to the music scene and is a great way for bands to start and gain confidence and experience. I’m not going to pretend that I like indie/rock music but no one there could deny the passion and rough talent of the kids.

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