The first band to take to the stage were ‘Shittingbourne’s very own Morgans Puff Adder – the local Ska Punk favourites who went down a treat in this Maidstone crowd. They put on a set full of songs both new and old and the crowd really seemed to be lapping it up – a few at the front showing their appreciation in a big mosh pit. I however felt that on this particular Sunday night – the band in question were somewhat average as they just didn’t seem to be able to get in to the full swing of things – this was probably due to the fact that they had the ever hard job of being the opening act so it was not really their fault, was just down to being placed at the bottom of the bill.

The next band up were the home band – One Day Elliott, a band who once went to MGS, a school in Maidstone but now have long since left - yet still carry around the spirit of their youthful pop punk band to wherever they are wanted (based on this performance – probably nowhere!) They really were quite terrible on Sunday night but the Maidstone crowd still seemed to be eating out of their arses – they couldn’t seem to step a foot wrong but with me not being a fan of the band I just found it all to be a bit…well – SHIT! Their music just doesn’t seem to click and as a result comes out sounding awful – they are just one of those bands that are going to be playing the same venues for the rest of their careers if they keep it up as in a crowd they are the sort of band that would go unnoticed.

Dumpster Pop were the first Moon Ska band of the night to grace the stage with their presence and came in with a really odd performance – I cant really think of a word to describe their performance or their genre for that matter but it was pretty weird anyway! I have to hand it to them – they did up the level a bit after the One Day Elliott performance but I think that if Busted had come onstage after them I would have been pleased to be honest! I don’t really think anyone knew what to do when they were on stage as it was so bizarre and left everyone pretty puzzled really – bar the few drunks at the front moshing around crazily. The performance was quite solid and you could tell when one song ended and the next one started but still they weren’t really anything special and failed to really make a big impression.

The first decent band of the night finally took to the stage at 9:30 when it was Graveltrap’s turn to give it their best shot – and give it their best shot they did indeed! Graveltrap put out a fine performance on this cold November night playing great tracks off of their album such as Getaway, Kickin’ Chickens, Primal Fear, What About The Marigolds and the Scuzz TV classic – SRJ. They had a warm reception from the crowd for this track – most of whom had obviously never seen the band live before but just glimpsed them on TV a few times. They put on a crazy gig and I enjoyed myself quite a lot – and that was before the alcohol intake! I became a skanking and pogoing fool for this half hour set and by the end of it had a grin pinned on my face. In the middle of their set there was a giant bundle in the middle where a few of the crowd had collapsed and the rest seemed to feel obliged to jump on them and squish them – was all a bit too stupid for me as like I said – at the time I hadn’t had a single drop of alcohol and was in serious mode but things were soon to change!

In between Graveltrap and Solabeat Alliance I decided it would be fun to go off and drink lots of Vodka in a short space of time and then run around manically. I managed to stand there for 45 minutes dancing, jumping around and singing without stopping for the Solabeat Alliance and it was partly because of the drink and partly because of the adrenaline rush which came about from their amazing brand of Ska. I really love this band and that is why it was the fifth time that I have gone to see them live – I really think that they have a lot of chemistry going and are one of the best bands in the UK right now. Their new material from the ‘Island Fire’ album was sounding better than ever and I am sure that they revealed even more songs from it on this particular occasion – last time I saw them in Herts Showground they played ‘All Or Nothing’ and ‘People of the World´ and they were sounding amazing but this time they were sounding absolutely phenomenal and really did put on the performance of their life time! I was really pleased with what the guys had to offer me as after seeing in 12 months, 4 shows of extremely high quality they had a lot to live up to in my eyes and managed to pull it off with flying colours. I will definitely be going to many more Solabeat shows and will hopefully get a chance to go and see them live in the very near future – the Carling Academy gig is a definite possibility for me and I will be trying my hardest to get along to it for a Solabeat Alliance experience.

Big thanks to Tom for bringing the rock to Maidstone by putting on a Solabeat Alliance show – it was a great experience and hopefully more bands will start coming to Maidstone as there is definitely a good scene going down here and we need a few more bands to fuel our addictions!

Related Links:

One Day Elliot.co.uk
Morgans Puff Adder.com
Dumpster Pop Official Site
Graveltrap band site
Home of the Solabeat Alliance!