Live

GST Cardinals, Daytona Lights

Alisha Ahmed 07/09/2010

The best things in life come unexpected.

Ask every proper A&R (wo)man in this country worthy of his/her title and they'll probably have tales about stumbling upon brilliance, maybe on the night of a day which had the crankiest morning ever.

If I were one of those, especially now, I'd feel I am not doing my job properly, as I feel Tuesday night I discovered the last great unsigned band in London.

Which is a stretch, considering GST Cardinals are actually from Hull, and this is their second descent to London I have the luck to catch. First time around in May, they played at the Monarch in Camden along with The Shills, but I had just the pleasure of their company after the gig as I did not make it in time to witness them on stage.

Otherwise, I'd have been ranting for the last 3 months about how this industry is sick if they are still not only unsigned (!) but even unmanaged (!?)

Why the fuss then? Well last band I saw with the chemistry, energy, and infectious melodies they spread from the stage, was this little london four piece who after almost 10 years still graces the cover of the like of NME.
For the Cardinals, Dave is just your perfect frontman: sweet, smiley and almost shy when you talk to him around the club, he becomes untamed and unleashed on stage, naturally following his instinct, which in his case can only be called talent, to charm people in, jump out to land amongst them, and basically getting them off. But it does not stop there because when playing, he shares the attention and makes the chemistry evident with Matt, Alex and Liam, and I am sure it would happen with Olli too, were he not secluded behind the drums.

To make a long story short, GST Cardinals had me drop my jaw for most of their set, while I had to take a picture of one of their bromance hugs and send it to my music accomplices, accompanied by the caption -paraphrasing the words someone much greater than me once used - "I think I might have just seen The Libertines at the Rhythm Factory in 2001".

After all, they have the tunes, they have the looks, and they all seal it together with their amazing on-stage chemistry and off-stage babyfaced smiles.

If they don't get big, I am not sure I am interested in what's supposedly big anymore.