From 2002:

FREEride, Just Dan, lo ayame at Zak's, Sept 2002

A funny old game, gig reviewing. Very subjective, as I'm sure you're aware. Still, this is a tale of two opinions, I couldn't tell it any other way. My own opinions, addled by years of reading Melody Maker and NME, and despite my very open-ended musical tastes, are over-critical. Diane's opinions are based on things like whether a band make her want to dance. I'm not sure which of us is right. Probably both.

Anyway, Zak's - a sweatbox as ever, but one of the best places for close-up, intimate, band-on-audience action. First up, lo ayame, who filled the moist air with some intricate instrumental fiddling. We missed the first half of their set, the band are just a two-piece normally, but just after we manouvred ourselves to a spot near the back, a couple of their mates joined them on the stage to add to the mix. By the end, the sound had built, almost without us realising, to a persistent driven throb. The closest reference point would obviously be Mogwai (a lazy comparison, sorry), but a bit less stop-start. But why make reference points? I liked 'em. Diane didn't. There was no dancing.

Second on this eclectic bill was Just Dan, a bespectacled singer-songwriter, armed only with a guitar, a mike, and some lyrics on a piece of paper. He grabbed the attention straight away with an a capella version of Madonna's "Like A Prayer", but after that settled into a set of earnest acoustic songery. Pleasant enough, with a good voice, but there are a lot of Just Dans about, although I admit that's not his fault.

The headline band, FREEride, hit us like a wall of confidence and Hammond organ! It's not often I've seen an MK band this tight, this cocky, with this good a sound, and the fact that the sound they'd chosen wasn't up my alley shouldn't take away from that. A kind of funky soulrock is what they peddle - if you want musical comparisons, think Reef and Toploader comparing chunky rock keyboard sounds in a barrel with Ocean Colour Scene. If that helps. Makes me shudder a bit, to be honest.

But Diane was up and dancing almost immediately, while even hardened cynics like meself and Jimmy James were left impressed by the singer's soul falsetto - respec'. So, while they weren't entirely my cup of tea, at least a couple of their songs were very good, the others were muscular and honed, and they're excellent at what they do. If I was NME, I'd be proclaiming them "the best new band in Britain" at some point in their career, so I'll settle for "best new band in Wolverton".

Nice to see Zak's still full on these nights, and nice to see such a diverse range of bands. Long may it continue. If I could take some sort of robotic cooling suit, I'd be there every week. I'll be wearing a flower in my lapel.

Matthew M Taylor.