of The Sailplanes who proceed to make a glorious noise that
strips all of the best bits from Sonic Youth and Electrelane
without any of the self-indulgent pretentiousness. The alternation
between male and female vocalists and the delicate
interweaving of the two guitars and subtle drumming without the
intrusive presence of a bassist provides a refreshingly divergent
sound, and their keen understanding of dynamics keeps things
interesting throughout.

Next up are Macaca Mulatta, featuring festival co-organiser Jim
Rhesus on bass. This is the third time I've seen the band in the
space of a couple of months, and they seem to be improving

with every gig. Today they seem more confident and comfortable with the songs and it shows through with a more energetic and energising performance - they're reviewed in more detail elsewhere in this issue, so I won't repeat myself.

General Disarray have come down from Sheffield, as have a decent sized
group of friends family and fans, several of whom are forced to watch the
band through the glass in the door due to the venue's over 18s only policy.
The band themselves must be pushing the age limit pretty close themselves,
and their youthful exuberance (god that sounds patronising) is infectious.
The sound coming from the stage sounds suspiciously like ska. I hate ska.
But I don't hate this, so either my ears are playing tricks on me or this is
something slightly different. It's still very rough around the edges, but time is
on their side.

New Cross indie band Nakeru are next, and their summery pop infused
sound is perfectly pleasant - it's almost a shame to be inside as their bright
and breezy tunes would fit perfectly with cloudless skies that everyone else
is enjoying while we're sweating in the dark.

The Video Club, however are perfectly at home in these sticky environs - their electronic tales of urban debauchery and violence would seem out of place anywhere else. They're on particularly fine form this afternoon, making 5 o'clock in Bethnal Green feel more like midnight in Soho. Frontman Matt is the

bass/ guitar set up; but it's singer José's rasping vocals that prove their trump card, adding a sense of urgency and edginess to a sound that in the wrong hands could sound tired and derivative. The Bridge Gang manage to avoid these pitfalls, and claim the sound as their own.

The Fades are one of a handful of bands making a repeat
performance after playing last year's G-Spot, and little has
changed in the meantime - they still serve up a driving set of
punk rock, uncompromising and untempered by changing
fashions. At their best, they sound vital and invigorating, but these
moments are just too infrequent to really hook me into their set
today - keep an eye out for new single 'Caca' though, which is
one of the highlights of the day so far.

The Mid Carson Coalition have been invited over by Jim
Rhesus from his native Guernsey for their first gig in London, and
the difference in attitude is obvious from the outset - no slouching behind the microphone trying to look cool for this lot. From the first note it's full on energy and effort as Mid Carson thrash their bodies and instruments around the Pleasure Unit's compact stage, pulling off rock shapes and poses not seen since Van Halen last

toured. Sadly though as much as I'd like to say they won us all over, the truth
is Mid Carson stuck out like a sore thumb on today's bill. They're obviously
talented guitarists, but their old school metal sound comes across as dated.
It's loud and fast, but there's little here to back up the intensity. After a few
songs the sheer volume drives me outside to give my already battered
eardums some brief respite.

Good thing I did too, for it would have been a shame to have missed even a
note of Untitled Music Project's astounding set. UMP are starting to
garner a lot of interest and it's not difficult to see why. Their frenetic sound
fits almost perfectly into the gaping void that was left behind when Mclusky
split last year. It's high speed vocals and high octane drumming all the way
and blows away every single band that have played today, along with just
about every other guitar band I've seen in the past 12 months. Go and see
them now and dance like your life depends on it.

Papercuts are the band charged with the unenviable task of following the bombshell that has just exploded all over the venue, and they make a pretty good fist of it. Fronted by the twitching Ross Cummins (formerly of 90's teen punks Symposium, who were one of my favourite bands back in my dim and distant school days), who goes on to jerk and flail around the stage to the anthemic punk rock backing of his band. His antics come unstuck in hilarious fashion part of the way through the set when he accidentally demolishes one of the venue's blackout blinds while clambering over the amps, and is then forced
to take a short break in the set to apologise and try to fix the damage.

We're into the home stretch now, and Luxembourg are here to carry our
tired limbs and buzzing ears to the finish line. They deliver as usual with a
top drawer pop noir performance, updating Britpop and making it utterly
relevant ten years after it last fizzled out in a blaze of mediocre bandwagon
jumpers. 'Close Cropped' provides the night's anthemic singalong moment,
and the band leave the stage more than twelve hours after Dexy got the ball
rolling. It's been a long, gruelling but utterly fantastic experience, and full
credit to Jim Rhesus and Bill GIITV for putting on such a great show, and for
raising both money and awareness for Care.

Review and Photographs by Paul Madden

You can hear live tracks and interviews from G-Spot on the Earwax podcast

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