Nebula @ THe Mill

A host of Preston's musical talent came together last Saturday to celebrate the launch of a new unsigned bands night at The Mill. 'Nebula' was promoted and organised by Jill Haslam, the same name behind the launch of the successful Definitive Burn compilation last November.

The night provided live entertainment from five bands including Ivan Campo, The Deadbeats, Linus and curtain raisers Underdogs, who have been regulars on the Preston scene for years in one form or another but are finally finding their feet and growing stronger with every showing.

The night employed both rooms at The Mill and making first use of the venue's small stage was Linus, a acoustic solo act that combines delicate, twisted melodies with poetic, almost spoken northern lyrics. The tuning of the whole set is knowingly warped and adds to the natural quality of the sound.

Delicate

Linus is a 'love it or loathe it' act and employs the art school student technique of providing a background visual, as simple 'videos' are projected throughout the set onto a rough canvas behind the singer. Each song is honest and emotional, one in particular the creator claims to be about 'the shit, just all the shit, at once.' in which the chorus line declares 'we're all prisoners in our world just break us out.'

More acoustic nicities were provided later in the form of Ivan Campo who performed with just two of the usual quartet. In the past Campo have suffered from performing on too big an arena at The Mill, but now on the small stage, in their rawest form, the quality begins to shine through again.

Every number is a quiet, mellow pop song including two new tracks Do As You Please and Like An Angel. However melancholic Ivan Campo's sound, there is always a riff or melody that catches you, none more present than in Chow Ming, played uncharacteristically on guitar instead of keyboard, but sounding no less charming.

Relaxed

The Deadbeats are a powerful acoustic blues outfit, all with shaggy long hair and set to play this year's Glastonbury. Their style is in the same vein as Bob Dylan, The Basement and The Stands and the delivery is incredibly relaxed. The front man sits down, leaning back on his chair and the lead guitar breaks into a barefoot stamp when raising the tempo.

The band fall too easily and quickly into playing slow-turn blues ballads and the mid-set mumblings lose the swinging momentum established early on, but any doubt is soon plastered over by two unblemished acoustic rockers to close. The quintet attracted a big crowd and looked completely at home on a big stage, let's see if they can make a marked impression during this year's festivals.

Written by Dan Jeoffroy

Photography: Dan Jeoffroy