Red Stripe Music Award ’09 Final
HMV Forum, London
06/05/2009

Over the past six months, Red Stripe Music Award ’09 has sought out the nation’s untapped talent and tonight sees the four finalists take to London’s HMV Forum’s expansive stage. The thing is, all of these bands have been picked because they’ve thrilled in an intimate, in-your-face setting. As countless bands have discovered over the years, it doesn’t always transport easily into big venues. It’s an intriguing subplot to a night that, whether they win or not, is triumphant for all concerned – how will Gideon Conn, First Degree Burns, Philadelphia Mainline and Ben Howard fare plying their wares in a venue where you couldn’t just swing a cat, you could probably swing a tiger?

The line-up arranged alphabetically, Gideon Conn is up first, probably wishing his parents had christened him Xideon Conn. The venue slowly fills up as he and his band fire through a twenty-minute set of off-the-wall bonkers-pop. Backed up with five other musicians – for his RSMA Dingwalls show, it was just him and two others – means the songs sound big and bolshy, Conn’s quirkiness offset with ear-bashing punky thrashes. It feels like a mistake to finish with a solo song when the sound of the six-piece is so vibrant, but their set raises the bar for the other three bands to follow.

Up next are Bristol punks First Degree Burns, their jaunty ska-rock putting a NO-FX bounce into proceedings. Their Rastafarian frontman whips out a Jamaican flag three songs in and does a lap of the stage whilst his bandmates embark on a reggae-rock wigout – there’s no play-it-cool pretension here, First Degree Burns bring the ska-punk party and have a venue approaching full capacity in on the act.

The fact that you couldn’t get further from the booty-shake bounce of First Degree Burns than Ben Howard speaks volumes for RSMA’s eclectic approach. Howard’s gentle plucking requires a degree of calm to be fully endearing but, after a few songs, it’s clear that his plaintive, melancholic vignettes have grabbed the audience’s, not to mention the judges (Howard is later deigned winner of RSMA ’09), attention.

By virtue of their name beginning with P, Philadelphia Mainline, come onstage to a packed venue and soon have their blues-rock hurricane roaring round the room. The two-piece make best use of the stage, their simple set-up allowing the focus to be purely on their retro-rock anthems. Their lack of a bassist sees some of their bite get lost in the ether for the first few songs, but once they hit stride, they don’t let up and provide a thrilling end to this year’s Red Stripe Music Award ’09. Gomez might be following with a set that spans their entire career, but tonight’s real stars are the ones who’ve made the leap from dark corners across the country onto the Forum’s stage and, like all good bands do, landed on their feet.

Niall Doherty