At the turn of the century, music magazines were even more desperate than usual to find 'the next big thing'. The UK's guitar-based 'alternative' musical landscape had been largely barren since 'Be Here Now' vomited coke over the nation in 1997 and Britpop petered to a halt. The likes of Melody Maker, Q and the NME were, QUITE LITERALLY, plastering their covers with each and every bunch of chancers they could find busking round Camden. The likes of Terris, Campaq Velocet and infamously, Gay Dad, were pitched as THE FUTURE OF ROCK N' ROLL. They weren't. OBVS.
Not all the bands were bad, in fact the likes of Kings Of Convenience and Shack were/are ace, but they weren't exciting. I doubt that many teenage bedrooms were adorned with posters of the Beta Band in 2000. In early 2001 Starsailor were thrust at the music loving peoples of Great Britain by a rabid media.They were an ok band, but they definitely suffered under the weight of The Hype. Their debut EP, "Fever", sold BUCKET LOADS and was all over the radio, despite being rather downbeat and not particularly radio-friendly...
As a result, Starsailor's Leeds show in March 2001 was upgraded from the Rocket to the Cockpit and sold out well in advance. Me and my mate Spenner arrived early, but the place was already full, even before opening act, Mull Historical Society, took to the stage. I don't think I'd heard of the band at that point and remember being distinctly unimpressed. There was something quite annoying about the group that I couldn't really put my finger on, although they were a bit less irksome when I saw them supporting Elbow at the same venue the following month.
Despite being named after a Black Sabbath song, second band, Snowblind, were more heavy jangle than heavy metal. Their singer, Jane, had previously been in a band (possibly 'Atlanta') with my friend, Sound Control Gerbil*. SCG was, understandably, slightly jealous that her former bandmate was now touring the UK and had signed a deal with EMI. I dutifully tried not to like Snowblind too much. Luckily this wasn't too hard, as they were a bit on the limp side and their melodies were definite six out of tens. Still, the free tape I got after the show was quite decent and Spen and I talked about going to see them again the next time they played Leeds. Unfortunately, soon after this tour they were dropped by EMI. Although they were resigned by Independiente, they were quickly dropped for the second time after their debut album failed to light up the charts and that was the end of Snowblind. RIP.
*She worked at Sound Control. And looked like a cute gerbil. Ahem.
Starsailor took to the stage around 9.30pm and played a short, but energetic set. They were clearly as PLEASED AS PUNCH to be playing to a capacity crowd, although their Madchester swagger seemed at odds with the introspective nature of their piano-led set. "Alcoholic" got a great reception from the crowd, despite not being released at the time... and being massively depressing. The Doves-esque closing track "Good Souls" got the loudest cheer of the night, but was the only obvious single in the entire set. Regardless, the band was soon playing bigger venues to more and more people. Until those pesky Strokes came along and stole the wind from their starsails...
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