27th February

We were given this review of Elephant from a participating member of the audience:

Dear Yorkshire House Website,

I was excited about catching Brighton's Elephant because I had heard that they were young men in make-up. The previous night at the Yorkshire House was hardly a fashion show. Dust Byte looked like they had been dressed for a school play about grunge music and their support act were real scruffs in tracksuit bottoms and baggy teeshirts.

Anyway, Elephant's lead guitarist stepped out of the salon and onstage in a black see-through top and PVC trousers the colour of buffed up conkers. He had eyeliner and maybe some lip gloss or something.

The singer was a good looking lad - tall, slim, good posture. A tight tank-top in red tones over white skin (bare midriff!). His trousers were striking but a big mistake - red, crushed velvet flares that clashed terribly with his upper half. Red and pink should never be glinksed.His hair and make-up were good though, and overall he had the look of Keith Richards circa 72.

Elephant's bassist also looked very much like Keith Richards circa 72, but sadly I don't mean 1972 this time. This Keith RIchards was as old and haggard as the singer was young and alluring. His only concession to glam was a silver guitar strap, but he had some good moves which he kept up for awhile.

As I recall, the drummer had a black teeshirt and maybe some sticks.

I don't usually dwell on appearances, but Elephant would probably want that. The sounds were very dull.

You've heard of shoegazing, haven't you? Well, you could call these lot platform-gazers. The crowd was saddened not to receive any of the sex, fun or immediacy of the seventies favourites they modelled themselves on dress-wise. If the idea of slightly goth eighties guitar rock (Joy Division, Jesus and Mary Chain) being performed by Southern jessies in old fashioned clobber sounds interesting to you, try sitting through three-and-a-half hours of it!

The band seemed frustrated by the lack of response from the slowly dwindling audience, but really they only had their material to blame.

Dr Benway