Restaurant for Dogs

Restaurant For Dogs – Salisbury City Hall

Billed in some music papers as ‘The Barry Andrews Band’ this group was not, as that name suggested, an Andrews dominated affair. It consisted of musicians with commitments to other bands working together within one group, pooling ideas and styles.

The first number of the set, ‘Feeding Time,’ was troublesome. A bass dominated intro led into the song well, but the vocals of Andrews and Marx were distorted beyond all comprehension, a problem David Marx and his own group, The Mix, had encountered earlier.

That was not all though. Andrews’ distinctive keyboard sound was nowhere to be heard. Despite this, the crowd enjoyed it and the scenes that ensued were bewildering. The chant of ‘anarchy’ echoed round the hall and they started showering the group with spit although the music was basically unlike punk.

The crowd also ‘appreciated’ ‘Mousetrap’ which was a deliberate over the top thrash and didn’t sound all that bad with Andrews’ diction winning over the bad sound. ‘Big Laughs’ also demonstrated Andrews’ vocals. He’s not a great singer but he has bags of feeling and a rough edge to his voice which comes over very well.

One thing that is striking about the band’s stage appearance is that it is very similar to The League of Gentlemen; David Marx being the focal point as McRae sits through the set much like Robert Fripp.

Mcrae explains: ‘’As I used to play acoustic guitar before this band, it feels much more natural to me.’’

The Canadian guitarist seemed to be taking a back seat somewhat through the set (excuse the pun) but closer inspection into the sound revealed the layers of colour he was subtlety laying down.

‘Fruit’ showed the individuals at their best within the concept of the band. Andrews and Mcrae working well together and Kev Wilkinson, who had been excellent all through the set, used mostly bass drum and hi-hat with startling effect.

The Restaurant For Dogs were visually uninteresting but on the whole the band, the music and ideas were conceptually far from that.

Chris Walker (Making Music)

The Gear:

Barry Andrews (keyboards and vocals): Crumar group 49 organ, Vox AC30.
Bruce Mcrae (guitar and vocals): Gibson SG Standard, Vox AC30, Big Muff Fuzz Box.
David Marx (bass and Vocals): Fender Musicmaster bass, Vox AC50.
Kev Wilkinson )drums): Pearl 5 drum kit, Paiste cymbals.
PA: 3000W hired.
Contact: Ian Reid c/o Virgin Records.