Lemonrock Reviews

The UK's leading community and information centre for the live music scene

'The great thing about MiceWithGlasses is that they are happy to tackle tunes most bands wouldn't dare touch.

The Mice invaded the Black Horse with an unusual but highly enjoyable set list that would have surprised any music fan who had never seen them before.

There were no Johnny B. Goodes, Brown Eyed Girls or Summer Of 69's to be heard here. Instead the Mice squeaked their way through songs like the opener, the Feeling's I Love It When You Call; Green Day's raucous American Idiot and the Kaiser Chiefs' singalong Ruby.

The sound quality was truly excellent considering there are only three instrumentalists -- guitarist Jerry, bass man Derek and drummer Paul.

But the Mice are blessed with a great vocalist in Graham, who can reach notes most singers wouldn't attempt. His performances on the Nina Simone classic "Feelin' Good", Take That's "Shine" and Coldplay's "Yellow" were outstanding.

It was hard to believe too that the band were tackling Plan B's "She Said" for the first time. They were even successful at the rapping part in the middle section.

Highlight of the evening was their terrific rendition of the recent Muse worldwide smash "Uprising". Their spirited interpretation was simply stunning with just a lead, bass and drums.

I could have done without the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling", which kicked off the second half; and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" but presumably the Mice hoped to get a few dancers.

Highspot of the second set was a fine performance of the 1991 James' hit "Sit Down" which had the opposite effect on the Black Horse audience.

Bass player Derek (the only one with real glasses) made a more than competent job of Wheatus' "Teenage Dirtbag" with Graham helping out on the high notes. The audience also loved "Monster" which came complete with set moves.

Other acts who were given the MiceWithGlasses treatment included Scouting For Girls, The Killers, The Darkness, Kings Of Leon and dear old Amy Winehouse.

MWG are well worth checking out -- and it's nice to see a band which makes an effort by providing nice lighting effects and even a glittery microphone. No wonder they are finding themselves in big demand'.

Colin Fenn, DJ, journalist, Wed 29th Sep 10

 

'Mice with Glasses are a genuinely interesting band. I'll take all aspects of the night in turn:

1). Crowd - the only thing a band can't influence! The crowd LOVED the band, with the dancefloor being packed from the start of the second half and beer/wine and sweat being sprayed in all directions. If a band is solely judged on audience reaction MWG really cracked it tonight.

2). Set list - a very good set with modern songs by the Kings of Leon and the Kaiser Chiefs. Either MWG are visionaries, or I missed the point of the set list, as often songs from the same band were only slightly separated from each other - this did feel a little weird.

3). Sound quality. There was some good gear here, but it could have benefited from some further tweaking to get a fuller sound going. I'm not sure if the band were under the thumb with noise constraints, but in future the drums need to come to the fore to give a more powerful sound.

Overall this was a gig I really enjoyed, I think MWG have a good thing going on and with more polish in the sound and possible development of the set list they could grow into a band you shouldn't miss.

In terms of the venue, the pub was rammed - the huge car park swallowed all the cars up well and getting a drink was still easy. If it hadn't been for the loose bowels of some of my fellow dancers, the atmosphere would have been perfect'!

'Recommended'!

Lemonrock, Sat 25th Apr 2009