Cassio Avenue: the Water Rats’ Theatre
Posted by jamie on Dec 22, 2009
Cassio Avenue
Water Rats’ Theatre, Kings Cross
26th November 2009
[Jamie would like to apologise for the delay in posting this review. It should never have taken this long, but he has been THAT busy. Yes, really. Phew.]
It happened on one of those days where everything was going right, and there haven’t been too many of those lately. Today, though, that made this all the better. Let’s face it, as well, home-time is always the best part of the day. Especially when you’re not going home. All of which goes to say, in a roundabout way, that I was giddily in high spirits and my little (yet masculine, thank you) chest was puffed out like a robin’s as I bobbed along Euston Road. Like a helium balloon, but instead floating on optimism. What a day.
The Water Rats’ Theatre, or the Monto, as it seems to call itself, is tucked away in the Pentonville Road/Scala area of Kings Cross. Discovering it proves one of the more pleasing theories about London: that new and different venues aren’t just everywhere, but that there’s probably one right around the corner that you haven’t found yet. On the down side, I guess, they’re still saying you’re never more than two metres from a rat. Can’t win ‘em all..
Cassio Avenue are stoked to be playing the biggest show of their short history as a band so far, in support of They Fell From The Sky. Apparently one of TFFTS was in Hundred Reasons and another of them was in another almost-big rock act at about the same time. They’ve certainly pulled a crowd and brought a lot of fancy looking merch. We didn’t stay to see them, though, as beer at the Monto is very, very expensive indeed.
Other bands had overrun and so Cassio, last before the headliners, ended up getting their set cut by two songs. What we do see, though, is enough to be certain we’re looking at the beginnings of a really exciting band. Their sound is a little bit electro, just enough to hint at some of the edgier indie/electro/80s style stuff that seams to be everywhere at the moment. It’s still got the raw energy of a proper rock band, a sextet with two guitarists, a synth player and with four members on vocals. They’re different, though, where so many bands, presumably with similar ideas, have ended up being samey and a bit boring. A lot of what makes watching them exciting is that the song writing is so innovative and the sound so distinctive: snotty, at times disdainful, yet still immediate because it’s delivered with such a strong sense of urgency. With samples. So yes, it’s a bit mashed up, and pretty surreal, and it’s epic, almost prog, but with samples and quickfire exchanges of different, very different vocals stepping in and out as well. And that makes Cassio Avenue great fun to watch.
Here’s a tip: don’t get yourself wedged in front of a speaker. And if you do, don’t let it be Adi’s (the synth player). There were whirlpools in my pint while we were still standing still. You can imagine, then, what the rest of the night was like. Intense. See Cassio Avenue.
