O CHILDREN
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, The Other Rooms

The huge stature of vocalist Tobias O'Kandi towers over the Newcastle crowd for this intimate Tuesday night show. With such a low ceiling, it's a good job he doesn't like to jump around!
His baritone voice gives a dark echo'ing boom to the tracks, alongside contempory guitars. Influences come clearly from bands like Jesus and Mary Chain, Joy Division, The Smiths and of course, the band they took their name from, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
The crowd is not lively tonight, many chosing to watch in awe a band crafting some killing tunes - from the collosal 'Malo' to the sombre 'Dead Disco Dancer'.
The band aren't that lively either, this isn't a show of people running and jumping around, but one of a powerful stage presence from a powerful performance.
Some have cited that O Children are part of a 'new wave' of Gothic acts, but they have so much more going for them than the restrictions that tag brings.
Tonight's crowd has only a handful from the local Goth scene in attendance, with the bulk of attendees resembling those that you'd expect at a trendy 'indie' show. Good job they weren't relying on the Goths to make up an audience!

KEVIN MORRIS