With his low-fi approach Julian Donkey Boy, plus drummer and guitarist entertain the crowd.  His deadpan, Jonathon Richman style of delivery masks the bittersweet lyrics such as “Oh what a wonderful feeling/just to know you’re not here”.  For the final song, they step up a gear and almost get angry

“This Ain’t Vegas” take their music seriously, and they are peeved that a guitar tuner has been thieved.   They do the soft-loud, fast-slow routines effectively throughout their set.  They have even managed to coerce the crowd to move forwards to the edge of the stage, the first time that has happened tonight.    Their guitarist is all motion, bounding about the stage, a counterpoint to the vocalist who intensely grabs the mic stand.  Heads nod along to a lighter emo sound that combines with the would-be metal that is delivered

What to make of the Hot Club De Paris?  Their name itself catches ones attention, and when the band starts their set, it’s with an accapella display of one of their songs.  The audience aren’t quite sure what to make of things, so one of the band kindly announces for their benefit “That was song number one, so you may applause”.  Applause duly follows

And things become more intriguing.   Verses that may or not be self descriptive flow over the fast paced bass driven sound so that when they repeat “We “f**k anything that moves”, you know you heard it right first time.   The two guitarists double as vocalist’s, seemingly from a perverse sense of enjoyment at seeing the confused looks on the faces of HCDP virgins in response to po faced delivered, but seriously tongue-in-cheek uttered lines as “Will you tell me what your name was?”

At a later point the third member and drummer will emerge from behind his stool to appear at the mic in order to join in on a second acapella number before they let loose and finish with guitars ablaze.   With Valentines day rapidly approaching, they provide all would be Casanovas with the words that are guaranteed to melt the heart of a loved one - “I love you like a love myself””

Absurd but fun

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