Go figure.
When Figure 5 appeared on-stage, it was strange to look around and see that the venue appeared more spacious than it had been for the set of Sargeant, perhaps a Glasgow band was always going to suffer in comparison in Scotlands capital city but it didnt seem to deter the band any. From the opening track, Figure 5 seemed far livelier than their support act and if you could picture Kasabian after dropping the dance element of their music but retained the swagger, the terrace-like backing vocals and the riffs, then you would have a decent idea of the start that the band offered up.
Not many bands would reference the Rock Of Gilbraltar in their lyrics but Figure 5 do this in their opening number, managing to sound quite aggresive in their nature and at least give the impression they have the understanding of a world outside their own back garden.
Some bands show their influences through thir music but Figure 5 were a bit more obvious and some of the band members could feature on Stars In Their Eyes without needing too much make-up. Carrying on the theme started earlier, the lead singer had the hair and swagger of Tom from Kasabian whilst the guitarists were clear fans of Paul Weller and Steve Craddock, which gives a further indication of the music being offered up by the band and who they were appealing to. By this time of the set, the crowd had started to swell up again but the front few rows were populated by an older group of people than the ones who marvelled at Sargeant.
The bands may have been quite different in the music they were serving up but they were extremely similar in that both bands were only capable of playing one type of song and both sets deviated little from the expected path. Figure 5 were clearly the better band in that they had punchier tracks and there was more life to their set but one downpoint of their punchiness was that the short song-lengths enforced the impression that all the songs were of the same nature. At certain points, gaps in the music were punctuated by the crowd bellowing "Oi" and they seemed to be having a good time but again, the show lacked that touch of difference to make it really stand out.
Even when Figure 5 broke out the acoustic guitars, the songs were still of a pounding nature but the highlight of the entire evening came in the trumpet that bolstered one of the songs and added a strong mariachi feel. Perhaps it was the fact that it stood in stark contrast to the rest of the set but it seemed very fresh and alive in comparison and it was a shame when the song came to an end.
It wasnt the greatest night of T on The Fringe but fans of the band appeared to have an enjoyable night out, which for a Monday night in Edinburgh cant be a bad thing.