Going to Carnival Court on Saturday was a bit like attending an unofficial high school reunion – former classmates of mine took to the stage as members of The Flow, Beatenberg and John Wizards (I didn’t stay for The Rhodesians or ILLtastic), and with any reunion it was both a little awkward and pretty cool.

John Wizards were up first, I’d never heard of them before and unfortunately I can’t say I’d be keen to hear them again…visually they were a mess – cramming six people onto the small stage was ambitious, especially with the amount of awkward instrument and position swapping they attempted after every song, and musically there were some nice moments but the songs themselves lacked structure and definition. Plus the guy doing the weird warbling and dancing really didn’t do it for me…

I think it’s fair to say Beatenberg are the most established and professional of the bands on the line-up; music aside, what’s cool about watching them is that they’re always humble and engaging, whether in a packed CTICC auditorium opening for the Tallest Man on Earth or the cramped room of Carnival Court.

They were great, I really like hearing their newer stuff.

As the stars of the show, The Flow got a lot of love from the home crowd, (though all the bands did really, being that the room was filled with friends, family members and fellow ex-Westerfordians) which was cool, it’s a great vibe when the whole crowd’s overflowing with support.

As with anytime you know people who’re in a band, I was kinda dreading any future awkward conversations if they were terrible, but happily they were pretty cool. A little rough around the edges and maybe a little sparse in places but a solid foundation, plus the seemingly pleased presence of Papa Smurf, patron saint of Long Street, pretty much certified the band.

– – –

The Flow don’t have a Facebook page yet [edit: they do, it’s here], but vocalist/guitarist Nicholas Shubitz has some tracks up on Soundcloud over here

Beatenberg |  John Wizards

Photos on Facebook over here