St Andrews Radio

Music is Love – The Fresher’s Collective – Endor + Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers + Richard Phillips (support – student act) – 23rd September 2011, Venue 2, Student’s Union, St Andrews

Fact: Music is Love seldom disappoints. If you’re one of those people who’ve been around our lovely little Bubble for some time and the Bop is not really your cuppa’tea (more like your cuppa’cyanide), then you’re probably familiar with names like Kid Canaveral and Let’s Buy Happiness. And Withered Hand’s ‘No Cigarettes’ is most likely the story of your Saturday morning. Also, if Jose Gonzales was too much to pay for, what can be better than a tagline of ‘3 bands for a fiver’ to spur your interest on a Friday night?

Considering the turn-out (a crowded Venue 2, which is not something to be sniffed at), the event was a success. Freshers and non-Freshers alike gathered together and frantically danced to the cheerful beats of Endor and Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The opening act, Richard Phillips, had a very folky feel to it. One girl, one guy, a couple of guitars, some original tracks, some covers, and a general feel-good mood that set a nice, hearty pace for the bands to follow. The happy hippy audience sat down and listened, seeming mesmerized.

Endor made the pace drastically pick up. A lovely combination at the border of folk, indie, alternative, and maybe even bluegrass, if your imagination allows it, the Glaswegian four-piece added some flavor to the evening. Featuring instruments that include, among others, sticks and stones, glockenspiels, harmonicas and portasounds, they made the audience get up and dance within the first couple of songs. ‘Seek Cover’, ‘The Observer’ or ‘Two Lovers’ are those kinds of songs that you’ll hum for days, being utterly bewildered that most of your friends haven’t even heard of Endor. Let alone know that they already played a BBC session.

‘But that’s beside the point’, as Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers would say. Yes, their name is a mouthful. Yes, you tend to get raised eyebrows when mentioning them. Yes, never judge a book by its covers or a band by its name, because they were the evening’s most pleasant surprise. Is it enough to say that they turned Venue 2 into a mosh pit? Or should I also add that the general feel-good was so obvious that they were begged to extend their set? Or maybe even just mention the fact that everybody left the room with a huge smile on their faces and probably having bought at least a T-shirt and a couple of CDs?

Neah, I won’t bore you with that. It was simply a fab night.