Palomime, Bobby Pulls a Wilson and Lotus Eaters.-Mean Fiddler 7 Jan. Having seen Palomime support Venus Envy in the Da club about a month ago, i was looking forward to this gig a lot. They blew me away with their Stereolab-funk-jazz-Sonic Youth esque kinda thang. So, knowing the band from experiences previous, scared the shit out of me when , at about 9.30 Glen (bassist) strolled up to me, with that o-so-funky air of his, told me "the gig is off!!!!!". Arggh. Apparantly, one evil (unnamed....but we know who you are!) "mate" *ahem* of theirs scrawled his mark across the walls of the Mean Fiddler. Being not too smart, this was indeed the 2nd time he had defaced the hallowed walls of the 'Fiddler. So, the manager pulled the plug. Obviously , this is not the end of the story, otherwise this review wouldnt be intresting enough to print. So then, after a lot of pushing and pulling with the manager, to stem the impending riots, the gig was (finally) allowed to go ahead, though Palomime were banned from the Mean Fiddler. Forever. Well, they'll be kicking themselves when they rocket to number one, thats what I say. Aside from that blip, the Mean Fiddler is actually a really nice place. Sound bar-staff, deadly sound system and a cozy pastel walled atmosphere. Pity the place was half empty, but thats what to expect when ppl don't get off their arses to go and actually see bands around Dublin. Any half-arsed N.M.E. supported band could fill the Mean Fiddler, or whereever, but those very same ppl rarely go and support young homegrown Irish music , whether it be of the dance variety, a dj etc etc. Anyway, back to the night in question. Bobby Pulls a Wilson opened, and were damn good. Pity nobody actually went past the bar section, to the dancefloor to watch the band. That must be a pisser, playing to an audience about 20 metres away. Well, lonely as the where, they still put on a bit of a show, with loads of overly dramatic jumping around on stage, and a good light show. The music was somewhere in indie land, resting between Sack and Rollerskate Skinny. Lots of quiet verses, load chorus's and mad noizy bits. Yeah, just what every band should be like......... Palomime went on second. Gosh, I don't know what to write. They're just too damn good. O.k., I'll try. Two female singers. They both play guitar, although Coibhe tinkles her moog (what, eh. *nudge* *wink*) during a few songs. Wonderful harmonies,ala Kim Deal, sung over Sonic-Youth/Pavement guitar melodies. But most definitely an original sound. The almost Jamaroquai rhythm section funkily plod along in the backround, leaving the punters stunned by the aural attack (well I felt that way anyway.... ). They played a longer set than in the Da club, and there was a good few songs they didn't play the second time around, so its good to see a band not playing the same 10 songs each time. Very healthy indeed. I can see a lot of great things for this band, gazing into my crystal ball........... Lotus Eaters are shite, pants RAWK, in the worst possible sense. They had a Flying-V giutar for fuck sake. I refused to watch them, drank up and left to catch the last bus. "yeah, rock'n'roll, man!!!"