Kenelis live at the Scala

I went to see Kenelis at the Scala on Friday night, and was struck by how far Mel has come from the open mic nights more than ten years ago, where I’d drive down to Camberley and watch her perform. Kenelis the band have had a few incarnations, and the new line up (which isn’t that new!) has given Mel a shot in the arm and renewed drive. You can tell the band genuinely like each other, and are pushing each other to become bigger and better.

The last band I saw play at the Scala was Bright Eyes; so to see Mel and her gang standing on the same stage as one of my biggest heroes was a big deal. The Scala also holds other memories for us; a few wild, memorable club nights at Popstarz in our twenties meant that this felt like a homecoming gig of sorts.

The band opened with Moving to Brighton, which has a strong guitar part. I’d say Kenelis have two sides to them; a heavy, rock sound and a rocky/pop side. Personally, I like the heavy songs the most. I’ve always liked the screamy/ angsty ones and I like the acoustic ones too, but I think that's just because they remind me of old times! 

It was great to see the band up on a screen in the venue, too. I like the Scala as a venue, and the sound was great. The last big venue I saw Kenelis in was the Indigo2 club at the O2 arena, and I think they really lend themselves to filling up these big venues with their big sound. 

Next was GFY, which I’d say was more poppy, although it still has a rocky guitar and loads of energy. I think you can hear Mel’s accent come out much more when she sings now, which is always a good thing. I love hearing accents in songs – real accents, not put on ones!

Next up was Don’t Kill My Rock, which has a punky feel to it, with handclaps and ‘heys’ from the boys in the band. I really liked With Scars, which is where there were some technical difficulties, but I actually liked the more stripped down feel of it, as it is more of a ballad (or was that night!) Ballad is the wrong word; I don’t think Kenelis do ballads!

With my memory, I can’t remember which songs are very old or very new, but Holes feels to me like a classic Kenelis song (even if it isn’t), with strong lyrics and a catchy chorus.

The band finished with Prodigy Witch that has Metallica-esque guitars – I loved it. The song has a lot of different parts to it, stop-starty bits in the verses, screaming, slow bits and sing-song parts with backing vocals. It has a Paranoid Android sort of structure to it. I like it when you don’t know quite where you are with a song. It just has a bit of everything – to me it’s perfect Kenelis because it encapsulates all of their strengths; it’s got heart but it’s also got just proper headbanging parts. I like the ‘witch!’ screaming at the end, too. I always like screaming on songs! 

I don’t think the crowd were in the least bit bothered by any technical difficulties. I noticed how the venue filled up as the set went on, and when it finished, I felt like we’d just been getting started. Hopefully this gig will give Kenelis a push onto the next level of stardom; they have paid their dues and they deserve to be big. We’re sadly lacking in strong front-women in rock at the moment, and Mel, in her grey and black union jack jeans, is more than ready to step up. 

Blog fail/ Plug victory - catch Kenelis this Fri at the Barfly.

I've been a total arsehole in that I was meant to blog Kenelis at Indigo2 but I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in a year and got so bloody pissed that I couldn't remember anything that happened at the gig. I do remember a couple of things actually. I remember thinking the set was too short. I also typed these words into my phone 'we could die any minute' so I can presume that was a high point. And they definitely played Jealous. Also the new Kenelis merch is rather good. I overestimated my size somewhat, but my boyfriend has been wearing the T-shirt.
Mel Sanson is my favourite rock frontwoman after Courtney Love, and that is high praise. I find most female rockers quite disingenuous, but Mel means every word, and I just love watching her every time, especially at Indigo2, which is a fantastic venue (but with overpriced drinks, which is why we turned up so drunk, like 12 year olds). She was belting them out as usual, and as usual was better than the rest of the line up. From what I can remember.
The band did a cover of These boots are made for walking by Moz's old buddy Nancy Sinatra, which you should definitely investigate. Now if only I could remember how to embed videos. What sort of blogger am I!?
My evening ended puking outside Morden tube, which I'm sure is how most evenings end outside Morden tube. I did go round the corner a few steps, at least. Bloody good fun, though.
For my proper review of Kenelis's last gig, see here. Or to see for yourself what they're like, cos they are supporting I Am Giant at the Barfly in Camden this Friday 13th April (not sure why it says July on that page, perhaps they're drunk, too?). I Am Giant might be good too, I'm going to check them out. Kenelis are on stage at 7.50pm and apparently it's going to sell out. I can't make it as I have a date with a rollercoaster (well, a train taking me to one) at 7.20am the next morning. But I'm sure Kenelis will be just as loud as Nemesis. Probably louder.

Kenelis Live at the IndigO2

It's not often you can say you liked something before almost everyone else, and for it to be actually true, but I might just have bragging rights here. Last night I went to Glow, which saw the launch of the Kenelis single Jealous. There were some other bands playing, but Kenelis pretty much blew them away.
I have to declare a vested interest. I've known Mel Sanson, the lead singer for about ten years, and used to go and see her play when she was a singer/songwriter sat on a stool at open mic gigs, and not shouting quite so loud (although she was still angry)! Although she's a friend, I've always respected her music (you know me, I wouldn't go and see a band twice I didn't like). Tonight just seemed like where it had all been leading up to.
The Indigo venue is amazing, I was gobsmacked by it. The location is obviously dogshit as it's hard to get to the dome, and the dome itself if a soulless airport hanger filled with boring restaurants. But the Indigo2 (I don't like writing that) was actually a little jewel inside. The stage is really high so you can see everything well, and it was really fucking loud, too. The support acts ranged from Ocean Colour Scene-alikes, to a band who seemed to be fronted by Mary from accounts who'd got lost after work. But they actually all put on a pretty good show.
I've never heard Mel's band sound so tight, and her voice sound so strong (although her accent sounds more London than I remember previously!). She can really scream. Her tunes are really great, too, my favourite song by a mile was Give Her The Gun, it was just so angry. Sick was really excellent, too. Her lyrics are really honest and raw and her tunes are catchy enough to sing along to. Mel was headbanging, dancing round, playing the keyboard, playing guitar, doing the foot-on-speaker posturing and had a really good connection with the crowd. The crowd looked much more excited than they had all night.
Mel was born to be a front woman and pretty much lives life as if she's famous already. I felt really proud to see her up on such a big stage. She's be brilliant as a massive rock singer because she's a lot more interesting as a person and performer than.. well, anything you saw at The Brits this week, for example.
I know for a fact people care passionately about Kenelis because I met someone with a gigantic Kenelis tattoo on their leg! You can't really get more dedicated (or mental) than that.
If you like angry female rock voices, you'd be mad not to check out Kenelis where you can see her videos and stuff. Oh and you can buy her new single Jealous on Monday on Itunes, woo. PS. My photo's not very good, cos my camera is shit.