Caught In The ACT is the product of the wonderful ingeniousness of Jim Morgan. The CD comprises tracks from 13 unsigned Canberra bands, the gig is a chance to see ten of them live, and hear more than one song from each :) They each played half hour sets in alternate rooms.

SIMONE AND THE SOOTH SAYERS:

Simone is a folky kind of singer/guitarist, her token soothsayer for the night was a bloke on - ok, I'm not a drum expert, but to me it looked and sounded like a kind of bongo, possibly. A little thing. Anyway...

The music was what you'd expect from that kind of conglomeration. Simone has a good voice, but the style of music wasn't really my kind of thing...

JACQUI SECZAWA:

We were told that Jacqui has been performing since the age of 4, experimenting with loads of different styles. Tonight's style was - ok, so I'm not quite sure how to describe it. If anyone saw it, please provide me with words!! It was kind of raunchy pop stuff-ish, maybe.

She finished with a cover of I will always love you, prompting half the crowd to leave, but it was a very impressive rendition of a rather difficult song, and she did it beautifully.

GRIFFIN (formerly THE MARTINS):

Unfortunately I didn't actually notice that Jacqui finished late until I came in half way thru the Martins set, but it was worth it to hear her sing that last one :)

I like the Martins. Since the last time (see last time) they've had a name change and a lineup change. The keyboard player's gone, which was an initial disappointment, because the keyboard was such a great part of their sound. They cover it beautifully though with an extra guitar, though, so my faith in them was quickly restored.

They played a great version of Spider, my fave Martins song. Sleeper, the track from the CITA CD, included a lovely little Mike Myers bit in the middle.

The Martins/Griffin are a great rock/pop band, and great live. If you get a chance, see them.

RULING PLANET PLUTO:

Andrew likened these guys to Radiohead, and that's pretty much the closest comparison I can think of. It was a slower kind of rock. Not a lot of energy, but that comes with the style of music. They were actually a pretty good band.

THE RUG:

The first time I saw these guys I wasn't that impressed (see review of the first time) but this time I was. They certainly weren't too heavy and repetitive tonight. Similar to the Martins sound, which I'm sure is nothing to do with the fact that they share a drummer :)

I was so impressed with these guys I even forked out the cash for their EP. I also snared a belated autograph for my Martins CD off jim while I was there :)

TUKUNDA:

These guys were really heavy - the sort of band with a few long-dredlocked guitarists and a lead singer who basically sings (or yells) pretty much around the one note for half an hour.

These bands are sometimes ok to watch, though, and Tukunda was one such band. While it was almost meaningless ranty rage-against-the-machine-y (for want of a better example) type vocals, the guitar work, as with many of these types of bands, was pretty impressive.

I did notice when I listened to the CD that they don't sound at all heavy on the CD - they just sound like your usual rock band. Heavy or not, I liked them.

ANIM (formerly FETCHING ANNIE):

These guys (non-gender-specific term there) were pretty cool. Again another pop/rock style band, with Annie out front.

This band is definitely worth seeing. The music was good, and Annie was pretty impressive also.

BARRY DRIVE (not on the CD - filled in for MR FISTAR):

In my completely and utterly unprejudiced view (honestly!!) these blokes are a good little pop/rock band. The style is pretty much poppier rock, although tonight it seemed a little more rockier than usual.

Barry Drive got the biggest crowd reaction of the night, mostly from friends of Luke's (drummer) I think :)

A few of the songs were played a little slow, and it did sound a little rockier than usual, but the songs are such great lighthearted pop tunes that it's impossible not to get into them. They included a two-song acoustic set in the middle to provide a good mix of sound.

And to top it all off we were treated to a wonderful three week long drum outro by Luke on the final song :)

setlist (courtesy of the barry website): animal protein, kiss my memories, gun song, janet, bathroom, butterfly, sleep, cosmo

TROUSER TROUSER:

The first thing I noticed about Trouser Trouser was the suits. You Am I style (probably more Beatles style, You Am I just copied them...), the band was adorned in spiffy little numbers.

The second thing I noticed was the organ. Yes, they had their very own, very big, very real organ on stage. Nice and easy to carry around, anyway :)

These guys have had one song on rotation on JJJ - Sunday - which was the best of their songs. And that one's not really that impressive. It's a kind of slow style of pop - I thought of someone it's similar to, but I can't think who it is now :)

Good band, just the wrong kind of style for my liking.

IMPALA:

Another heavy band. Unfortunately, unlike Tukunda, Impala didn't have many strong points. Unless you like a barrage of abuse from the stage in between songs... yes, one sentence comprising four attempts at perfecting the f* word after only the first song.

Didn't stick around to see much of them. Two and a half songs were enough to convince me they didn't have a lot going for them. See, I am generous. At least I gave them two and a half songs before forming an opinion :)

OVERALL:

Was a good night, proving that Canberra can indeed mix it with the big boys. These bands/artists are all deserving of national exposure.

Credit must go to Jim Morgan who does a superb job promoting Canberra bands not only in Canberra, but Australia wide and even overseas. You rock, Jim!!