Some place at some time in the distant past a certain unknown band called Oasis played their first gig. Well ok it was 18 August 1991 at the Boardwalk Club in Manchester. Another quirky little band played for the first time in June 2003 at the Grapes in Sheffield. Ever heard of the Arctic Monkeys? Did anybody know at that time the dizzy heights to which they would ascend? Possibly, but probably not. That is the excitement of new bands. Nobody has a clue what will happen, but it might just happen, mightn’t it? You just never know.

Last night DAMSELS played their first gig at Studio 2, Parr Street, to just under fifty people. Imagine if those of us who were there could say that we saw DAMSELS play live for the first time on April 24^th 2016. I don’t know what will happen with DAMSELS. None of us do. It often has a lot to do with luck, with being in the right place at the right time, or the right person coming along. A Brian Epstein or George Martin to take a chance on a group of rough and ready lads. There is one thing that is certain. There has to be something there to start with. There have to be songs, there has to be something that the audience can latch on to. DAMSELS have that. They have a set list- always pretty important! They have original material, which is crucial. The original material Has real potential. The songs are driving and upbeat and clearly influenced by the bands they listed on a recent advert for a bass player. You hear nuances of Van McCann of Catfish in the phrasing and the melodies. That could be from the time singer and guitarist Greg (Sinnott) spent in a band about four or five years ago. They supported the Bottlemen before they really exploded. You hear the strong, accentuated, downbeat strokes of Kings of Leon and the Strokes. In a nod to the latter they covered Last Night, much to the appreciation of the audience. Incidentally, the Arctic Monkeys did two covers in their first ever gig.

So…to the set. Just after 6.30 pm on 24^th April, 2016, DAMSELS live show was born as they launched without ado, firstly into Scars, followed up by Days. Twitter followers had had a sneak preview but the set list was three quarters blurred out with the phrase Let’s AV ITTTT below and you could only make out the titles of these first two songs. It was energetic, loud, distorted, everything you need from an indie rock band. At this point Greg chatted to the audience and it became a feature of the rest of the set. The chatting and banter is an important part of playing live. “You’ll have to excuse my throat,” he said, and, “We’ve had about 70 band members.” Although a slight exaggeration, the band has struggled to find a consistent line up, and an important part of the next few months will be to find a stable line up. Greg is a guitarist, who stepped up to the plate, and the mic, when the singer left about six months ago. It was a pretty good first live singing performance, buoyant, confident and enthusiastic. Similarly, Alan (Hooper) has never played guitar live on stage before, but you would not have been able to tell. His playing was solid, studied and accomplished. Unless you had been told, you would not have known either, that Marc on bass and Pete on drums were stand-ins who had only just learned the songs. It was a pretty tight performance overall, considering this. This is a group that now needs to find some stability as it prepares to record demos- we were told that Barracuda will be the first- and set up more gigs this year.

As the set progressed, Greg continued to engage the audience with his entertaining comments between songs: “Thanks for coming. Was expecting to play to two fucking people…This is as slow as you’re going to get from a DAMSELS song. It’s called Pretty Guillotine…Apologies for any fuckups. Our last song is called Wanderlust…Enjoy the rest of your night. Let’s get fucking bevvied!”

The songs are obviously the most important thing for any band but banter helps draw in the crowd. During Strange Love– my favourite song of the evening- there was a bit of light-hearted interaction with a guy at the back and in the last song the band showed appreciation for two young girls and a young man who bounced out to dance in front of the stage.

So what now for DAMSELS? Well their first ever tweet pretty much sums it up: “We are DAMSELS. Thanks to anybody that has taken the time to follow us. We will have some demos up soon and have our first show 24^th April.” That first show has now been well and truly and successfully negotiated, proving really popular amongst those who were there. They are not DAMSELS in distress. Next stop is the demos, hopefully via gaining a bass player and drummer. And then some more shows. Then, who knows…Maybe a Wikipedia entry that says under the heading History: “DAMSELS played their first gig in Liverpool, at Studio 2 Parr Street, supporting the Magic Gang and Vitamin, on 24^th April, 2016.” Let’s just wait and see!

©Cre8ivation