Patent Pending

by Emma

Patent Pending – The Vine, Leeds – 1 March 2005

Optimum Impact introduced Patent Pending last issue, and I have been lucky enough to catch them several times in Leeds since then! Their debut gig was back in December at Leeds’ Joseph’s Well and man, did they blast onto the scene! Playing to a packed hall they screamed their way though a half hour set. The crowd loved it, and all in all the guys couldn’t have hoped for a more successful first gig. Every gig since has followed suit and their gig at the Vine was most definitely the highlight!

Supporting Patent Pending were Anthem, Bone Idle and Each Sold Separately. All played well, however Bone Idle were the best of the three kick starting the set with Metallica’s ‘For whom the bell tolls’ and belting out some pretty funky punk interpretations of dodgy pop tunes such as Ricky Martin’s ‘She bangs’! Highly entertaining!

Several too many Jack Daniels’ later and we were stood right by the stage waiting for Patent Pending to make the last few adjustments to their tuning and begin. First up was ‘Ridge Road’, Dave screaming his heart out while Ben and Beef jumped around with their guitars, Barney gave the hilariously tiny drum kit a serious thrashing and Ash typically calm and grinning his way through the song. The song went down a treat as always, and Dave decided to show off his most impressive robot dance moves before Ben lead the way into the crowd’s favorite tune ‘Rearview Mirror’. This is one hell of a tune and we all screamed in unison through this one!

‘1:1.618’ one of my favorites kicks off with an awesome riff by Ben, Beef and Ash – the pace of which chops and changes through the song from the crisp twang of the opening riff to the slower and heavier pound of the verse to the hardcore thrash of the break. ‘Are you ready for some heavy shit?’ was the roar that came from Dave as Patent Pending broke into their version of ‘Head Up’ which prompted a mini pit to form at the front and necks to the thrown violently forward in appreciation! Ben added some backing growls of ‘Soulfly!” which went down a treat!

‘Fast track faster’, and ’14 day guarantee‘ followed and the boys played with as much intensity as ever. It’s clear that they are all feeling more relaxed on stage and are becoming much more comfortable with that with every gig. The finale was ‘Life Composed’ – a mellow tune in comparison with its predecessors and very well executed. Altogether another success for Patent Pending, and after plenty of drinking and laughter we said our goodnights and headed home. Til the next time!

To download ‘Rearview Mirror’ go to www.patentband.net. It’s so worth checking out!

Emma

Introducing Patent Pending

by Emma

Introducing Patent Pending

Welcome to the very first introduction to Patent Pending, a new and exciting band that are just about to launch themselves upon the unsuspecting public of Leeds. So say hello and welcome to my favorite boys – Matt Balmforth on drums, Ash Kaye on bass guitar, Ben Dickinson on lead guitar, Jonathan Kirk on rhythm guitar and last but not least Dave Leatham on vocals.

Patent Pending have over the last fourteen months or so been through several changes in line up (Dave was originally in the band as bass guitarist), however finally with the last change (Dave returning to master the vocals) everything clicked into place and now the boys are preparing for their first official gig at Joseph’s Well, Leeds on 29th December.

Patent Pending have been through some struggles to get to this stage – several weeks ago the band were threatened with the old bill after an unreasonable neighbour disagreed with the local council’s rules on practice times and decided to call the police for disturbing his peace! Luckily they had already ensured that their rehearsal time had been agreed with the council and so no action could be taken. The band have also had their ups and downs with each other as pressure has mounted in light of their forthcoming gig.

Patent Pending have a loud and proud fierce sound that is set to impress. The band members have a range of differing influences from Metallica to The Smiths to The Eagles which puts them all in a slightly different mindset when it comes to writing material, and they all have something a little different to add to their sound.

To see more about Patent Pending go to the Optimum Impact website and there you will find a link to the brand spanking new Patent Pending site. Also check out our next issue for a review of the Joseph’s Well gig and interview with this promising band.

Emma