Long Winter - Great Hall (March 13/15)

Friendly Rich was peddling his decidedly child-unfriendly (despite running a charity music school for children) show complete with squeezebox and schtick galore. Musically it wasn't to my taste but as a spectacle it was fairly entertaining.

With zero idea of who was in stage in the conversation room I entered and for the first part of the song thought, "this three piece band are rocking quite melodically, kinda like The Constantines." And then the latter half of the song came in and the chorus spiked in intensity, especially from the impressive bassist dressed like a serviceman. He shared vocals with the guitarist who looked more like you'd picture a hard indie rock guitarist dressing, all time checked by their drummer under a Nets cap. It was definitely head nodding groovy even when each song seemed to build to strong shouted peak. Several Futures, one of the several musical discoveries that has nearly become the norm at Long Winter.

Pins and Needles had the Girls Rock Camp stamp of approval and deserve it. All girl four-piece that seem to be in high school - that theory backed by the majority of the kids rocking up front - they were impressive and not just for their years. The drummer was having fun and showing flair as she stood up at a number of points to really bang at her set. The bassist had an underrated voice, the keytarist (yes!) came in strong with hers, but the sparkling guitarist's was stunning. Altogether they played well written songs that seemed to have roots which was really impressive. Even their throwback cover (that escapes me) worked and the only criticism is that the encore was unnecessary but considering how much they've picked up already they'll get that sorted out soon. Real record release coming this year!

Vag Halen were the spectacle they've become. Stalking the stage in panties, pantyhose and cutoff tops the singers gave it their all and the crowd gave it back and more. The AC/DC cover actually had a massive mosh pit which was present throughout the set. Whether screaming, writhing on the stage or railing against Harper's terrible parliamentary bills they were making a scene.

Long Winter III - Light Fires, Buck 65, Vag Halen - Great Hall (Jan 11/13)

Light Fires was an unexpected romp as Regina had a fire lit under herself. She was all over the conversation room, singing like a diva, dancing like a madwoman and even scaling the walls and windowsills - all in massive heels. The energy was infectious and it didn't matter that the beats were coming solely from backing tracks played off an iPod it moved ya and got people moving. An impressive display of energy as she simply went for it!

A band called Vag Halen, a female 80s cover band who did Van Halen and GnR, played and they were wild. The singer was wearing panties and a completely see-through cover-all which covered nothing. Anyhow the crowd loved it and they were quite fun and ended up being much better than I ever could have expected.

Closing out the night Rich Terfry took to the main stage to the stragglers who stuck around and hadn't headed downstairs to the dance party. With his laptop center stage he'd boot up a Buck 65 beat and then spit over-top of it, all the while shimmying around the stage. A solid number of the tracks I stuck around for were new songs from an upcoming project leaving me with a somewhat unfulfilled feeling.