They own lunchtime
Edinburgh outfit Serpico get a good sized crowd in the Red Bull tent on a ridiculously warm Saturday afternoon. Currently out on a UK tour they are making some good waves and attracting a fair bit of attention so we thought it about time we checked them out for ourselves.
First impressions are quite favourable as they kick off with fast, high tempo rock riffs that are big and loud yet easy on the ear. Singer Mikey doesn’t have the greatest voice, his clean vocals struggling to compete with the band (and his emo styling is somewhat suspect) but he does his job well enough and gets a fair few of the crowd pumping the air. It’s a solid if unspectacular start as it takes the rest of the band 3 or 4 songs to really get moving as they work through ‘Forsaken’ and ‘400 Blows to the Head’.
Mid way through the set I’m thinking that they’re perfectly likeable but they just haven’t taken off like you expect them to after a promising opening. All of a sudden though they turn it around and really get into their stride and they’re all the better for it, even managing to get a small circle pit going, not bad for a lunchtime slot. From here on in they impress and maintain the tempo with some well worked songs such as ‘We Own the Night’ and ‘Cultura’ and finish with something of a flourish.
Certainly worth checking out and displaying plenty of promise but there’s something about them that’s a little obvious, not quite sure what it is, maybe add a little more raw energy and grunt? Whatever it is they don’t blow me away but most of the crowd here disagree and they go down extremely well. Another name on the ones to watch list.