St James Wine Vaults is a small basic pub upstairs, but tonight’s gig was in the vaulted cellars that give the pub it’s name and unique character. We met up with Alex and Shireen at the bottom of the steep stairway and were led into the cellar proper, a series of connected vaults, each about the same width as six people stood shoulder to shoulder. I can imagine it’s intimate and cosy when it’s not acting as a venue, with lots of small alcoves. I was wondering where the bands were going to play, and it was at the end of one of these alcoves, just near the bar (pretty handy!)

The lighting chosen for tonight was once again the photographer’s nightmare – predominately red, although there was a glimmer of yellow at stage right and a blue light emanating from the room next door at stage left. It was thanks to these colours we got any usable shots at all. The performer’s alcove was packed with sound equipment and instruments with a drum kit somehow wedged in amongst it all. Any artists not in the front line were too much in darkness to stand any chance of appearing in any shots though.

A decent crowd for tonight –this early in the evening being made up of mainly band members and their friends. We parked ourselves in what looked like a decent spot for photos and got the drinks in.

Ash Mandrake, ‘The Bard Of Bath’, (complete with trademark weird hat) opened with one of his comedy mock-medieval soliloquies and introduced the acts.

Alex In The Void (Alex and Shireen) acoustic duo were first on. Alex explained a bit about The Experiment, which was set up to see just how far a band could go independently using media which has appeared in the last few years due to the internet. They are developing the full band and have have a lot of performances planned, as well as promoting events and recording. Tonight’s bill featured a lot of the local bands who have inspired Alex over the years.

The acoustic set featured a mix of songs and short poems. Alex on guitar puts heart and soul into his performance. The willowy Shireen has an amazing, powerful and slightly throaty voice, reminiscent of PJ Harvey, and demonstrated her versatility switching between guitar and saxophone. The set needs some polishing and definitely more practice, but there’s a load of potential in the songs. The crowd loved them too, and they got an enthusiastic applause at the end.

The Dusty Stars appeared as a three-piece tonight, but with some assistance on bass for the first half of their set from ex-member Leon Hurley. Former Dusty’s drummer Annie Gardiner was there in the crowd as well. A couple of The Dusty Stars tonight went for a flat cap and neckerchief look reminiscent of the Dexy’s during their ‘street gypsy’ period. Front man Ed Cesar went for the back armless T shirt and eyeliner. The musical styles went from identifiable rock with ‘Everville’, through pop with ‘Waiting For The Day’. ‘Down In The Street’ was a charming, oddball ¾ number, and then the music went into some other territory I can’t categorise; Bertold Brecht maybe. This was best illustrated by their new song ‘The Night Shift’ (aka ‘Not The James Bond Theme’). I can also see the anarchic influences and little flashes of humour from bands like Pulp. Some of the more anthemic songs offer the chance for some really magical moments with the audience joining in, lighters waving etc.

The guitars seemed to spend the majority of the set out of tune, which did make me wince a bit. The songs are still a bit raw, and there’s a lot of practice and development still needed, but overall a really good band with a load of potential, and with some great tunes. Look forward to see where they are later this year. This was the first gig for Mr Chrismas on guitar, violin and vocals, and he did a really bang-up job. The Dusty Stars are in the market for a couple more band members to replace Leon and Annie.

The Mandrake Project is officially up to 6 members right now, although tonight’s set was a four-piece (Ash, Amadou on jembe, Daniel Eid on bass, Catherine Hurley on flute). Unusual musical mix of African and UK Folk, with a bit of jazz and rock thrown in. Amadou is a master on the jembe and Ash has a powerful voice, verging on the operatic. A powerful combination of seasoned musicians and a really tight and compelling set. The Mandrake Project will be developing though the year and includes Neil Gay, Paul Sax and Rob Spalding as contributors.

Cabaret Rat was on next, after a short delay while he sorted out his audio settings. His made for an interesting handover, and Ash from Mandrake had to fill in with The Mighty Dragon Song while Rat struggled to work out the instructions the sound engineer had left him. Yes – I did say ‘left him’. It appears the sound engineer for tonight had run the sound checks and given every band a scrap of paper with their personal settings on. The idea being that when it was their turn they just had to push in the right buttons and twiddle the knobs and hey presto – customised settings. Where was the sound engineer? He’d buggered off somewhere else to (quote) ‘see a band he liked’. After promising all kind of eye-watering injuries for the missing sound man, Matt was finally set up and started his set.

Cabaret Rat consists of Matt Prosac on guitar and vocals plus a barrage of pre-recorded backing tracks, with thumping bass and drums. The Rat is an angry man at the best of times, and it comes out in his work. Anger, cynicism and black humour, all served up at gut-churning volume and a compelling stage presence. He started off with a storming ‘Rats Of War’ before moving on to that cynical observation of America that is ‘Cattle Ranch’. The little alcove was packed now with Rat’s avid fans, so it’s sad to see him moving to Oxford where his type of music seems to be more readily appreciated. We’ll miss him, but he's promised to return for regular visits, including appearing at one of our Tuesday nights at The Fleece.

We’ve covered CountrySide before, so we were interested to see (a) how they would fit the band and keyboards into their little performing area, and (b) how they’ve developed since last September.

Stephen has ditched the odd face fungus and now sported a proper rock band stubble. The sound has tightened up since we last saw them and they’ve changed the arrangement on Spaced Out to make it flow better. Wedged into their corner, the band couldn't move, so it was a bit of a static set. Still managed to deliver the goods though with Stephen switching slickly between keyboards and guitar throughout the set, and Jon, Dan and John working together to create the seamless whole that is a proper band. There was a minor disaster during the last song when the keyboards at the front collapsed, but Stephen wedged his head between them and carried on playing. We haven’t changed our opinion – still stadium material!

So overall a great night, and some interesting bands worth watching. The only criticism of the venue is that it's really too small for this type of gig. It got really packed towards the end which meant only the people at the front really got to see all the bands.

Kev&Chris@BristolBands.com