8 Bit Christmas Special

First of all, why call it a Christmas special and then do nothing Christmassy during the program?  Is the idea of 8-bit any more attractive over the festive season?  That aside, let me fill you in with what you probably missed at BeCool tother night.

There were three acts that we caught.  There were more on the bill but we either missed them, didn't notice them or they were wack.  And I believe that in general, it's better to say nothing than to say something negative, especially in this season of good will and mince pies.

The first was Drop 1410 who had a tremendous selection of energetic tunes which were well programmed and not too self involved, keeping us engaged for the duration despite the lack of vocals, etc.  He popped up on occasion to introduce this or that, and I was slightly disppointed to see that he was a human and not a dalek or C3P0.  He also dropped a really amusing take on early ninties eurotrance.



We were there to see Meneo, and I suppose that they were the main attraction for the most of the souls that made it up there on a school night, not for me though as I was steady on holiday by then.  There set was pretty short, it must be said, as this early gig had had its share of technical glitches, but was intense as ever, and they dropped some new material including one track that seemed to be called 'Tiger Woods Is Gay'.  Well I never.  They also done a couple of covers, which I hadn't heard before, check the video below for to see whether you would have dug.  Most people did.  Also most people were disappointed not to see the band members' members during the performance.  What can I say.  It was cold and they might not have done their profiles any favours.



The act that put the night on is a Catalan/Japanese crossbreed called Pepino.  They were a kind of 8 bit Pizzicato Five, she was more reserved and nicer to listen to, he was too wacky and is vocals did nothing for the tracks at all.  Did I say I was going to be nice?  My bad.  Their synchronised dance moves were awesome though.  And they had a bit of a penya down there that knew the tracks off by heart and whatnot.



Overall, the night was enjoyable, from the point of view of a showcase and not a night of dancing.  You had to be a real 8 bit anorak to pay attention to everything, and Meneo were easily the slickest and most entertaining 30 minutes.