The Picture Show

The Cavern
20th June 2008

Reviewed by Nigel Harrison and Alice Lenkiewicz

We went to the Cavern on Friday night to review a new up and coming band called The Picture Show. The band were headlining the evening, supported by further bands including Black Arc. The previous bands built up a lot of energy and then The Picture Show went on to conclude the evening successfully with their unique and interesting style. The band played to about ten people but certainly deserved a larger audience.

Having spoken to the band members prior to playing, they told us a little about how they first formed the band and what their influences were.

Alexei - the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter who is of Russian descent - leads this London-based band. Dave was guitar and backing vocals. Nick is Polish and played bass and backing vocals, with Chris on the drums.

This band were a very friendly, interesting bunch of lads. They seemed to be producing work that was a little more experimental and yet could also be in the charts. We felt they had a little of the Manic Street Preachers about them. Alexei told us that he was particularly inspired by Russian folk music including Kino and Victor Tsoy - a well-known Russian musician who is also a poet, singer and artist.

Tracks from the band in running order included Oslo, The Revolutionary, Hymn for the Living, Fire, Motherland, Rasina, and In-between. My particular favourites were Close and The Revolutionary.

Oslo was a good blasting tune, slow tempo verses, hard shouty choruses.
The Revolutionary: Catchy tune and riffs.
Hymn for the Lving: Weaker tune. Reminded me of independent chart music now. A top ten hit, that is all.
Fire: Again, chart music. Very Manic Street Preachers.
Motherland: Good tune.
Rasina: Chart success. Very U2. Quite drummy, good middle eight riff, good guitar solo.
In-between: Boss! Quiet start, works its way up, a song that will grow on you.
Close: Speeded up choruses, powerful indie tune expressed well. Bit of stage presence, likes to talk a bit in-between songs. Overall, the band looked like they were enjoying themselves and there was a lot of good energy.

How they met and came together was a bit unusual. As Alexei told us:

“Dave and I met through a chance encounter between Dave and my ex girlfriend on a bus in Cambodia. They were both travelling at the time and happened to be sat next to each other and she played him a few of my songs which he liked and subsequently looked me up when he got back. He pretty much turned up on my doorstep and we had a few drinks. I talked rubbish at him for a couple of hours and he ended up getting a parking fine, but didn't leave and that's how we got together. As for Nick, I've known him all my life - he's really like a brother to me. We were born in the same hospital and live two streets apart and it all went from there!”

We had a great evening and feel that The Picture Show had what it takes for future success.

http://www.myspace.com/thepictureshowuk

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