LIVE REVIEW: Kasiuss wow Crown Hotel
WHEN you see live gigs in Hollywood movies where everything is so exciting and so right and the crowd is going mad and you think "this is too good to be true" and it usually is, well, tonight, in one of the Crown Hotel's biggest halls in Harrogate, it's pure School of Rock – and it's real!
I've seen an awful lot of 'local' bands in the past 17 years and the most ambitious of them, a precious few, always act as if they've made it already.
At worst this can mean superstar egos without the superstar talent.
At best there's an impressive professionalism and inner belief which says nothing can stop our rise to the top.
In the case of headlining Harrogate rock band Kasiuss, whose special night this is, it's the latter.
This young-ish outfit have left nothing to chance for the launch of their debut EP in front of what looks like 300 people or more; from the superb sound mix and big gig stage lighting, courtesy of Rick Lawson and local firm FTAV, to the big screens showing documentary footage of the band recording said EP in a renowned studio down in darkest Cornwall.
Just a year ago, Kasiuss were just Biz Denton and Joe Bothamley, both formerly of New Legends who came mightily close to being the first teenage rock band to come from the Harrogate/Knaresborough area to hit the big time.
The duo emerged from the wreckage fully formed; wiser and more focused and, if anything, even better than before.
The addition of brothers Adam Odle and Jason Odle recently transformed the band into a four-piece – and what a band.
Even if what they do isn't entirely your cup of tea, it's impossible not to be impressed.
On stage, Kasiuss look a bit like Biffy Clyro, all manly energy and straggly hair and scruffiness, well lead singer Biz and drummer Joe do; bassist Adam has perfectly swept and sculpted hair while keyboard player Jason looks like you and me.
Their sound has been compared to Muse and there are similarities – the big rock sound, the epic feel, the grandiose keyboard flourishes and anthemic hooklines.
The differences are also pretty big. Unlike Muse, Kasiuss are rarely pretentious.
No silly song titles like Knights of Cydonia or Map of the Problematique for them.
No show-off guitar solos or slick attempts to be a modern version of Queen when Queen were still a little bit 'prog' in the mid-1970s.
Without being in any way dumb, Kasiuss aim straight for the heart.
They want to inspire, to lift, to make the packed crowd feel something, they want to connect and they do.
And that's for many reasons, including Joe's amazing pounding energy – one of one of the most exciting live drummers I've ever seen.
To a large degree, however, it's due to Biz.
Possessing a naturally strong voice, crystal clear but full of emotion, he can turn his hand to any style of song or situation.
Epic rock. Jaunty, oldfashioned r'n'b pop. Big power ballads with just himself and Jason's impressive keyboard backing or, as in the encore, just himself and his own guitar.
A real pro and great frontman, Biz does the right thing in thanking support acts Rob Reynolds and Blaze Camero so profusely, the right thing when helping what must be their youngest fan, a little girl of five or six, pick the raffle winner and the right thing when his microphone konks out momentarily mid-song.
Rather than worrying or getting upset, he smartly turns the minor technical hitch into an excuse for a clap-along with whooping fans while switching to his bassist's mic to continue belting out the song.
The key question confronted with all this exciting crowd-pleasing is whether Kasiuss have the songs to win over potential fans who've never seen their power and glory on stage who may only have a download or CD to judge them by.
Oh yes they have – on at least four or five occasions tonight. I don't like every track they do but if all they had in their locker was a track called Underground, I would still back Kasiuss to the hilt.
Introduced by the always up for it Biz as a bit of an oldie, this track could never grow old.
Imagine one of Kasabian's best tracks without a dance beat (try hard) or a cracking Muse rocker where that squealing, fancy dan lead guitar has been replaced by a gigantic drum beat and big stomping rhythm.
I'm not saying Kasiuss are the new Led Zeppelin but as Biz rides this cracking song into some mountain-high oblivion you can imagine Jack Black himself getting really excited in front of his young students telling them that this is exactly what the School of Rock was built on.
More info from kasiuss.co.uk or www.myspace.com/kasiuss
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Friday 25 May 2012
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