Show It Off at Hevy 2011
At what point does pop punk become just slightly punky pop? It may have been over five years since Busted disbanded, but the trend for boybands trying to re-badge themselves as 'rawk' is still going like that zombie you just failed to hit with a headshot. Shuffling and wailing as their hideous forms hound you with arms outstretched are the likes of Room 94, Twenty Twenty and Jody Has A Hitlist. They want to tell you how they party hard and want the summer to never end, but it seems that the only people willing to listen are thirteen year old girls. It's hardly changed since the days of Smash Hits and the Boyzone posters I may or may not have carefully picked the staples from to put on my wall. Well, I've discovered another band to throw to the shrieking adolescent masses, and they go by the name of Show It Off.
Before I go sounding like a grumpy old hag, I would like to make it clear that I am an ardent defender of pop punk. There is no harm having a bit of fun with some guitars in hand, and this is exactly what Show It Off did when they hit the Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage on Sunday. There just may have been a slight set back in that I spent most of that hungover morning with bouts of dry heaves, and the intensely sugary sonic battering wasn't exactly the most obvious choice of cures. They tried their utmost to work the widely unresponsive crowd, many of whom were hanging around to secure a good spot to see Man Overboard after their set. Their youth and high energy is something to be envied, on a par with fifty kids' entertainers and Butlins holiday reps rolled into one unit. They are catchy, but there were a couple of vocal moments that made me zone out and envisage a world being run by Vengaboys and Aqua. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, it's just something that may not suit everyone's tastes.
Show It Off worked hard and enjoyed themselves so much on stage that it was hard to not have a little bit of a soft spot for them. The crowd at Hevy wasn't necessarily what they would aim to please, but give them a room full of teens full of energy drink and they'll be well away.