The Like - Nottingham Bodega
Posted by Abz on Thu, 09 Sep 2010.
On Sunday 6th of September Nottingham’s Bodega played host to The Like – an all girl group from America. When I think of girl groups I think of Girls Aloud and Sugar Babes who don’t even play their own instruments. Theses girls do and may I just say they rock! With Elizabeth ‘Z’ Berg as guitarist and lead vocals the band already has a very unique sound that is sure to impress.
They have a whole very sixties BritPop thing going on which I’m inclined to think is drawn not only from inspirational artists (and the monochrome costumes) but also from Laena Geronimo’s bass from the age of the birth of real Rock music. She plays with confidence which comes from the sheer amount of talent she has and a pure joy and love of music.
Next in the band is keyboardist Annie Monroe who not only knows how to dance and keep her fingers on the keys, but how to play in a way which enhances the bands sound and the overall experience. Honestly I was wondering how and organ of all instruments is supposed to fit into a rocking girl group but as soon as they began playing realisation dawned and I was instantly wanting to hear more.
Now we get to the drummer. There aren’t many female drummers out there and if you can name any you’re probably thinking of people who stroke the drums with the sticks. Tennessee Thomas however is brutal! And she lets you know she enjoys it! From my vantage point at the back of the crowd I could here she played with complete perfection and could see she had a face of steadfast concentration but when I went to the side of the stage and she saw me she began grinning like the Cheshire Cat. And wasn’t afraid to rock our with the rest of the gang.
The whole group have masses of talent as musicians creating a very tight band who have good beats filling the air which will never fail to impress. Each song has a different sound that keeps you wanting more and more meaning the whole room was buzzing with energy which was brought forward by the players themselves – I don’t think they ever stopped moving which brought forward the only complaint of the night – it’s really difficult to photograph them! As a person on a night out all you can do is love them for it and want to dance along, which a few people did. Those who weren’t outright dancing were tapping out beats on the floor or moving their heads with the sweet sound of drums that were all but being murdered by Tennessee.
With finger stretches that seemed to defy all realms of possibility from Leana, quick chord changes from Z, and fast fingers from Annie accompanying Tennessee the band has an overall sound that is just remarkable. And that’s now even taking into consideration the harmonies. When you do you put those little bits of magic in… wow. Yeah wow. I’m not one to give wow’s out to mainstream (here I mean not classical) music but The Like get a thumbs up from me.
Before I went to the gig I managed to listen to a couple of their songs (when my computer decided to co-operate with the internet that is). What I’m about to say doesn’t get said about many bands but it’s perfectly true: they’re better live than recorded. The recordings don’t bring out the sheer rawness they have or the same bursting energy which just makes the band.
If there was one thing I had to say was missing (even though I don’t really want to) it was that they didn’t play a ballad number. Thinking about it I would like to hear what Z’s voice sounds like in a softer tone and hear the band at it’s mellowest because whilst I like the kind of music they play I’m also always intrigued to hear people who sing and play with rawness do a song that completely contrasts. Not to mention I think they’d be great at a ballad or two.
Everyone has a list of things that make a good band mine is: rawness, energy, talent and a great sound. You know who I’m going think of now? The Like.