Waterats, London, 11th March 2002

Last month we caught up with our pet band dizzy valise in the intimate settings of Leicester’s Musician: this month it’s off to King’s Cross for another stab at the live roulette wheel that is London! Again, our very own ‘flasher in a mac’, Mr Parker Biro was there witness;

3 Hours and many one-way systems later, we arrive at the venue (late!). No time for talking now as the band have to sound-check instantly. The venue is small but perfectly formed, and dizzy’s equipment soon fills he stage, followed by a brief yet big sound-check.

I grab Heetan after the check to see how it sounded.

“Shite“. John adds “Worst sound I’ve ever had in my life“. I reassure them hat out front it’s sounding great.

They have a few hours before show time so we sit and chat: a chance to find out what’s been happening in the last month. Naim pulls up a seat and fills me in. “It’s been a tricky month: We’ve been rehearsing as usual for this show...trying out new stuff, as well as myself teaching the guitar parts to a new guitarist for the next lot of shows“ John interjects: “Well we’re trying to get a bigger sound live, and for Naim to have to play the intricacies of the recordings as well as sing is difficult. To date he’s done a fine job, but we wanted to try out the possibility of two permanent guitars....size is important and Naim’s instrument possibly isn’t quite big enough.” (!!!)

Dan adds, “I’m really excited about the new stuff. We’re playing a new song tonight and it’s very direct in a quiet/loud kinda way, but with a bit of electronics for a twist. We start recording next week: should be a doddle.” Ahem.

I notice that compared to other band’s, dizzy valise are a very hard working band. They seem to be consistently recording and gigging. John explains... “The band is the most important thing to us, and working hard is absolutely vital. A band takes a while to develop both in a live and studio format, so the more recording and gigging we do the better, and it really has paid off, the new songs are reflecting this.” Heetan adds, “The new one you heard in sound-check, ‘Friendly Bombs’ is the sound of us in a room...dead direct and edgy. It has a point and gets to it!“

Stage time:

The first band go on, and coincidentally, it’s a band from Leicester. They are IST. And not very good.…at all.

Serafin are next and they rocked in a one-trick-pony kind-of-way.

Finally, dizzy valise take the stage and open with 'It’s Gone'– a perfect amalgamation of electronics and band. Second up it’s the new one, 'Friendly Bombs'. It’s a deal-getter of a song...very simple and very dirty indeed! Through 'Let’s Face It'and 'Fatal Star' the band seem a little too much on autopilot (later I find the sound on stage was akin to having your head in a blender which may explain the apathy!) The set ends with a new version of 'All These Things' (phat – as they say) and 'Bullets'.

Again, this band are tight and getting ever louder, and increasingly hard to ignore. With news that excellent Leicester band Saracuse have just been signed, let’s hope the Leicester scene starts here.

web site

For CD’s contact the band here

As always, Parker Biro.