Live

The Metros, The Clay, The Low Lights

Edmund Townend 12/03/2008

The Metros seem to outperform themselves in Cardiff tonight, after two entirely dissimilar support acts have ambled off stage. It appeared to be a collection of 21st century indie, but it seems a lot more variety is on offer.

Up first were local band The Low Lights, half of whom are commonly seen in the centre of Cardiff bravely and cleverly busking and probably earning more money than through sporadic gigging. Their interesting brand of indie with ska and funk elements encourages more than just the tapping of feet, but the crowd seem unenthused to oblige. Their songs are hardly deep, even bluntly stating at one point “I want to take your trousers off”, but they work hard and pull off a considerably fun set. Definitely one of the highlights of Cardiff's music scene.

The Clay, from Newport, deliver a miner-town song etiquette that's a definite change from the clean-cut indie of the first band, but it's essentially mindless and quickly tiresome. The faux-Manchester growl barely cut through the insufferably unoriginal grimey indie guitar and bass. The drummer must come from a different background, however, as his intermittent and incredibly out of place yelps and high octane drumming were reminiscent of polar-opposite genres.

Finally, after a well-orchestrated set up of pedals, guitars, drums and tape by roadies, The Metros swagger on-stage. Their considerably short set for a headlining band probably was due to their small repertoire as a newly formed band. Frontman Saul, smirked and staggered his way through the smile-inducing lyrics (“… he got ten years and a fucking ASBO!”) and made it seem like it was just another stop on their tour. “We're exhausted on this tour, only a couple more dates to go…” he says after a lively rendition of 'Last of the Lookers' adding quickly “but it's great to be here!” They dance through quick-paced tunes like 'Live a Little' and 'Talk About It' and finally, wordlessly encourage the crowd to start too. Saul's beer-frothing stage presence adds the cheek to a musically well-versed ensemble and leave the crowd with smirks on their faces for cheap beer and another stop on the tour.