Not long ago did I go see Gannets play live at Water Rats, this was literally the day after seeing Broken Records where I had to revisit the same venue. Now most folks wouldn’t recognise the experimental jazz band that is Gannets, and to be honest neither did I. I only went to see them because Fyfe Dangerfield from Guillemots was in the band too. So yeah, here’s a mini review of the show.
Anyway, I arrived at the venue slightly late and saw that the first band Mano De Dios was already playing, I instantly fell in love with them, they were like the latin version of Gogol Bordello, filled with that dancing and uptempo vibe. There was something magical about them, so I made sure I took a quick hd video of them. Check them out
Don’t trust their myspace page though, I really didn’t like their studio stuff (lacking of energy I think), they shine out so much more live, even their manager said (whom I met after their show). But yeah, check them out!
The other two bands weren’t too interesting, the next band was filled with fangirls and then the next act failed quite a bit in terms of setting up his gear (too much faffing about on stage with cables), at the end he did the right thing and just went solo in front of everyone, however by the time he started most of the crowd had vacated already, mainly because they were to check out the second band (whom I never knew of). There was like a pack of girls who constantly screamed whenever the drummer from the band did something (like show his tummy?!) it was surreal but luckily the band left the main venue area so the fan girls went away with them and left us all in peace.
Next up were Gannets, they were excellent! It was all spontaneous and improvised. The entire set was just one super nonstop jamming fest, there really wasn’t a beginning middle or end. The instruments were pretty unique ranging from a normal Roland keyboard connected to a million effects pedals, to a custom build oscillator synth that had teddy bear eyes attached to them (with light sensors that the bass clarinet guy would shine a torch onto). I’ll give up explaining their music any further, I think a video would be more appropriate 
I managed to talk to the band for a wee bit, later on Fyfe posted my video on www.guillemots.com which was ace. But yeah, the show was amazing and I hope did justice to how amazing they were. Not everyone’s cup of tea mind since it obviously breaks all rules and conventions in music.
