In the beginning

The initial plan for the evening of March 5 was to go and see Flying Fortress and Monobrow at Cafe DeKcuf. But since it was a later show and there were some bands at Zaphod's I decided to hit that up as well, since I hadn't heard of any of the acts performing that night. As I walked in The Start were on stage, heading into their last three or four songs. While the lion's share of the bands I see confine themselves to a cover or two per night, The Start are dedicated anglophiles. This isn't too hard since frontman Graeme Weeks is born-and-raised and guitarist Gareth Powell has tread the boards across the pond as well.

How many bands have one musician playing a keytar and the other a Ric? I wager not many, but if you cover everything from The Beatles to Depeche Mode I guess it makes sense.



Gareth is in charge of facial expressions and guitar.



Shoulder-synth action with Nathan Taylor-Conboy!



Frank Deehan handles the low end.



The whole lot - including drummer Aaron Clarke (and an unfortunately placed microphone)!



Graeme sings!



Is rock'n'roll the devil's music? Possibly, possibly ...



More Start!



More Gareth!



Guitar-lifting action!



And some final bonus Frank.



The Start keep busy with semi-regular gigs at The Pour House (you can catch them there this Friday, and on April 1 and 2) as well as weddings (just ask The White Wires' Ian Manhire) and suchlike.

• Show reminder: Kalmah, Warcall, Insurrection and Accursed Spawn rock The Rainbow; Go for the Eyes, Hibou and Birthday Girls are at the Elmdale.