31/3/2006 Girls On Top @ the Hope & Anchor

Subject	Girls On Top @ the Hope & Anchor
PostedDate	3/31/2006 4:51:00 AM
	I arrived at the Hope & Anchor just as Viva Las Vegas were finishing their set of Elvis covers played in punk rock style - I was rather annoyed to miss them as I didn't realise they would be on so early.  Next up were the Screeches. With a punky blonde girl on vocals, a goth looking girl on bass, and a bloke on guitar sporting a tasty Gibson 335 I should have liked them more but I simply didn't like the noise they made.  Girls On Top are always fun. They had a slightly different lineup tonight as guitarist Neil Downe (of course it's his real name!) was absent due to having hurt his finger. His place was taken by the very rocking Mel Roxy of Mikabomb and Zipshaft - so for once the band really were all girls! Fortunately, Mel already knew the songs as she spent some time as the band's stand-in bass player. Less fortunately, the first part of the band's set was spoiled by some technical difficulties with loud humming noises from the guitar amp - this was eventually solved after some switching of leads. The set was the usual mixture of songs from the band's two albums, with the addition of two or three songs from their forthcoming CD - one of which featured some ferocious metal style drumming from drummer Lydie.