Room 94, The Bottom Line and Dave Giles

Room 94, The Bottom Line and Dave Giles

Sound Control, Manchester

August 25th, 2015

Room 94 are a band that have never been on my radar and I've always associated them with teenage girls, but when I heard that The Bottom Line and Dave Giles would be supporting I decided that it would be worth checking them out to see two fantastic support bands.

I know that I shouldn't stereotype a band based on their sound and what I see about them on social media sites, but from what I've read they are a slightly heavier sounding One Direction that attracts hoards of screaming teenage girls........  and I was almost right!

 When we got there the queue was the longest that I had ever seen at Sound Control and it was populated by lots of teenage girls, eagerly arguing over which member was the 'fittest' and which member the 'just have to get a selfie with'. 

Kicking the night off was Dave Giles, a lovely Londoner who I saw a few weeks ago in this very same venue.  Dave's performance is just him and an acoustic guitar, giving him no loud guitars to hide behind, not that he needs to.  His set included the wonderfully quirky 'I Am What I Am', ' The Tree Song' and one of my favourites 'Bangarang', which he performed at floor level amidst the crowd rather than from the stage, giving us a more personal show.

Dave also treated us to a rendition of his current single 'Movies Suck', which you can check out the video for here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOx735sJT_s

I really felt for Dave as the audience showed no respect and insisted on talking all the way through his set, even though Dave gave a great performance and was thoroughly enjoyable. 

If you love acoustic guitar music and relatable lyrics you definitely need to check this guy out.  I can't wait to see more of him when he returns to Manchester in October.

Next up where The Bottom Line, who were previously a threesome, but are now a foursome!

Consisting of Callum on vocals and guitar, Max on Bass and Vocals, Matt on drums and now with Tom on guitar. 

Tonight's set was pure pop punk and included old favourites 'Drive Thru Night' and 'Record Player' as well as a brilliant cover of Wheatus' 'Teenage Dirt Bag', which had the audience jumping and singing along.

The Bottom Line also included a couple of new songs in their set and treated us to their new single 'Insecure'.

I've seen the Bottom Line perform quite a few times now, but I have to say that tonight they seemed more relaxed and at ease with their performance.  Their new material has given them their own sound and more confidence.  The extra member is working well for them and if the new songs are anything to go by their next album is going to be a necessity for any pop punk fan.

The Bottom Line never fail to bring the party and tonight was no different.  That said, even these guys had to put up with the constant chattering that was going on while they were on stage. 

I've been going to gigs for a long time and I've never really got the 'screaming fan girl' thing, you know the ones......  the girls who scream, flap their hands and hyperventilate when a band member blinks.  Or the ones that scream when the lights go down (are they scared of the dark?)  Well tonight I was in fan girl hell. 

At least if they are screaming at the band they will stop the constant chatting right? Wrong!

Room 94 hit the stage to an ear piercing round of screams.

As I mentioned earlier I had never actually heard any of their music and had a very pre-conceived idea of what they would be like.  I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.

Room 94 are from Hertfordshire and are made up of three brothers, Kieran, Dean and Sean with friend Kit on the drums. 

Their music is rock but verging on pop but it has good melodies and catchy lyrics.  Unfortunately, I missed all of the song titles that were mentioned during the show due to the chattering from the audience, but the songs sounded great. 

I can understand how they have created such a buzz for themselves and why the young girls find them so appealing.  They have a perfect image and sound for their target demographic but are also endearing to us older fans.

However for an old fan girl like myself I found the constant screaming a little overbearing and the constant chattering downright rude and disrespectful, but that said, it didn't stop me from enjoying all three performances.  I would happily watch all three sets again.

(Sorry there are no photos for this one as none of them came out good enough to post)