SIX BY SEVEN
Belfast Auntie Annies 4th March
2000
My visits home tend not to coincide with any useful gigs, but
this is one exception. 6x7 are a band I've struggled
to get into, although I've probably grown up with a lot of the
same music that they have. I think it's a case of the band being
a bit in awe of its influences, rather than creating something
that could equal the music which has inspired them. They've had
some good singles ('88-92-96'; and 'Two and a Half days
in Love With You'; in particular) and the new album is a powerful consolidation of their debut , but overall their live show fails
to really catch fire. I'm not saying they're bad - in fact, I'd
rather have a world full of 6x7's than Limp Bizkit's
- it's just that many times tonight we could have been listening
to any 'Goo' -era Sonic Youth track or maybe Dinosaur or Swervedriver. Although a lot of people I was with thought Six By Seven were
deeply boring, I thought they were OK and I'll give them the benefit
of the doubt as they were playing a lot of new material. It's
just that, as I write this, I have real difficulty remembering
the musical highpoints, and that's something I hope they can resolve next time I see them. 
