Seafood and The Workhouse at the Point, Oxford, 5/2/2000

Sometimes the music and the image of a band do not really go together at all. The Workhouse is one such example. They had very little stage presence, the only way they dominated it was by spreading the band around it, however, they managed to dominate the room with the music instead. Imagine the grandeur of Ultrasound, but without the vocals, combined with the lo-fi-ness of groups like the Klyvz, and you pretty much have the Workhouse sound. Although musically they are very good, it was a strange choice for a warm up group for the gig. The Workhouse and Seafood are as different as you can get in the world of indie/rock music.

Maybe they did this deliberately to show the diversity of the bands on the Fierce Panda group of labels. Seafood were much more your normal rock band. It took a while for the audience to get into the mood, but very soon half the room were jumping up and down and there was the stagediving too. Initially Seafood seemed to be pretty much the normal teenage rock band with loud guitars, and distortions, but the outstanding point was the music, and their ability to be entertainers. The loud, fast music was relentless, and song after song, they kept up the high standard. They didn't fall into the trap of just using yelling on top of guitar chords.... the singer actually sang. In between they interacted with the audience, the sign of a very confident band.

We have our future rawk gods here, and catch them while you can, they'll never be the same again once at the big venues.