I'll accept my first answer
When I reviewed one of Brigade's singles last year I said "I'll reserve judgment as to whether I want to join the back of the excitable journalists queue until I've heard more and seen them live. On this evidence they're not exceptional but do know how to write a damn fine track." So having caught them at the O! Bar I'm happy to stick with that opinion.
The London band drew a large crowd, OK so the O! Bar isn't massive by any stretch of the imagination, but those crammed in were rewarded with a set of solid and enjoyable powerful rock songs, consisting of material from debut album 'Lights'. Singles 'Guillotine' and 'Meet Me At My Funeral' were among highlights.
Brigade's debut LP was released by the same label as Funeral For A Friend, and fans of FFAF should find Brigade to their liking. They've a lorry load of catchy tunes, many with darker under bellies when you study the lyrics. There's something for most tastes in their style as they take aspects of indie, emo, grunge and mainstream rock and mould them together to make a collection of tracks that really should have seen them reach greater heights than they have done. Will Simpson (yep he is from the same Simpson family as Charlie Fightstar) gave an impressive performance and the size of the venue was a definite factor in making this a set where Brigade's talent shone through for all to see.
It does seem odd that with so much positive press about them in 2006 they haven't fulfilled the popularity that seemed a certainty. One problem might be that, for all that is good about Brigade, there wasn't anything that made them stand head and shoulders above the multitude of different artists on show across the Camden Crawl. In short they're a band who know how to rock, but in a way that is enjoyable but nothing remarkable.