Thursday 28th January 2010 @ The Croft, Bristol
Featuring Performances From: Diego, Substatic, Scarlet Rascal and The Trainwreck, The Ruckus Collective

It’s fair to say that most gigs follow a usual format; you know, three similar sounding bands play for 45 minutes each and there’s time for a pint in between. Not so at the Red Stripe Music Awards, a veritable pic’n’mix of musical flavour which saw no fewer than six local bands take to the stage in bite-size but deliciously chewy half-hour chunks. Divided between two stages, no time was wasted setting up – the audience simply moved between the front and back rooms as the bands began. This set the pace for the night, which quickly got lively. Indie-folk five-piece Diego took the front stage, marrying strong drums and crashing chords with delicate vocals, creating a lush autumnal sound similar to Bristol folk-rockers Babel.

Shaking things in a completely different direction next were the stomping Substatic, whose hard electro and knee-scrambling bass wouldn’t have been out of place at Motion. The pounding electronic layers built gradually but constantly, keeping pace whilst vocal vixen Colleen (looking resplendent in dress with black feather shoulder pads) let her voice soar, all the while keeping the performance very cool and complete.

Up next, Scarlet Rascal and The Trainwreck pleased with their pared-down, bluesy thrash, but with a boy and a girl on guitar on drums respectively, White Stripes comparisons are always going to be inevitable. Another high point came from final act, The Ruckus Collective getting everyone moving to their fun ska-like riffs, raps and sax solos.

With such a diverse line-up it was refreshing to see an assorted audience, not simply one full of dominating scene kids or crusty punks. It was clear they appreciated the difference too. A night focused on the music itself has been much in demand and long may it continue.

www.redstripe.net/rsma

Heather McKay