Review: return of The Charlotte

By Jack Bomb
Contributor from Pineapster forums

The Charlotte in Leicester re-opened on Thursday 8 October 2009

It was an interesting night, given all the hullaballoo about the new direction of The Charlotte.

Resting on the laurels of its glory days gone by, this was always going to be a tension packed night, and the audience was probably made up of around 30% of people coming to watch it fail.

The sound desk was on ground level; gone was the intrusive booth which was the bane of bands and punters alike for so many years.

As I understand it, the PA was hired in for the night, and a permanent option is yet to be decided upon.

This being said, the sound was certainly no worse than in the venue's previous incarnation, which is at least a starting ground.

The bands

The Screening have been building a great buzz along the years.

In a visceral wave of cut throat guitar riffs and punchy choruses, the band echo Ash before they discovered tattoos, and Suede when they weren't quite so bad.

Thirteen years too late, and remember - this was just an echo. This is a band who have long since missed their chance.

Razmataz were the band of the night for Jack Bomb

Autohype are a contemporary, up-tempo mixture of Indie-Rock and Dance; with catchy riffs, sharp dancey beats and atmospheric synths all combining for a sound that sits somewhere between Does It Offend You Yeah?, Elle Milano and The Editors.

A strong performance at The Charlotte saw them go down well with the crowd, and flagged them as a band with some real potential.

"As a young Leicester four piece indie band all aged 16 or 17 who have been around for just over a year, Razmataz have achieved what no other band of this age have come close to achieving!"

So they claim. I think they forget The Displacements. And Ash. And Radish.

However, they were the band of the night for me.