late of THE pier

Into this strange world wander Late of the Pier. In contrast to the fancy-dressed audience, they stride on stage in the kind of dark jeans/sleeveless T-shirt combos beloved of the rockers their Castle Donington hometown is known for. Their melodramatic opening chords, meanwhile, remind me of nothing so much as The Darkness. Thankfully cod-heavy metal makes way for Klaxons-meet-Kraftwerk frenetic fun, with an occasional blast of prog rock for good measure. Things are not going to plan, however. After the first song lead singer Sam Eastgate declares the stage set-up ‘bollocks’ and starts rearranging his kit. A couple of songs later his guitar kit gives in completely and the band are forced to throw the setlist out in favour of synth-heavy songs such as ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘Focker’ – all accompanied by the kind of robotic moves that make them look like the bastard children of Marcel Marceau and C-3PO. They finish with former single ‘Bathroom Gurgle’, Eastgate urging the audience to “put your hands on your waistline” and gyrating like a demented Time Warper, before jumping off stage to fondle the bald head of a security guard and serenade him in a Justin Hawkins-like falsetto. The guard clearly does not believe in a thing called love. I’m quite enamoured though.