Review: Human Six Billion and The Grey Tapes

Like choosing a book the process of choosing a band to see on any particular night is usually based by how I judge sound from the bands name. With Human Six Billion I didn’t really know what to expect until I managed to find HSB’s personal webpage which informed me that the bands singer-songwriter was both a trained Koto player and recognised composer. So it was with high expectations that I wandered down to the Old Bar when instead I should have been studying herbs for University. Unfortunately I was a little disappointed with the show, instead of playing his Koto or experimenting with the twelve tone scale HSB played just a short set of interesting indie songs supported by a nice backing band. So they were all good and well but nothing particularly special.

The same thing can be said of the Grey Tapes who performed first. They played a more rock orientated set, though consisting of a succession of hits and misses wasn't in all too bad. Regrettably though the Grey Tapes are one of those bands whose lead singer is also the bands drummer. This practice is deplorable and should be ceased by anyone that does this immediately. The drums are a rhythmic instrument while the voice is a melodic one and it’s near impossible to do both well simultaneously. When the drummer tries to do this he is forced to either compromise between singing with feeling but keeping a steady, and boring, beat or to drum well but sing impassively.

All in all not a bad show I won’t be avoiding these bands but neither will I be rushing out to see them again soon.