Free shows are a great way to get exposure especially at venues that are able to attract a crowd no matter what happens to be on that night. For the bands playing they got the opportunity to play people that may have never heard of there music before. Unfortunately final arrangements were made late to attend on the evening but it was well worth the drive to see the bands that were yet to play.

Cabins looked in fine form, singer Leroy with his distinct shaggy blonde hair and paisley shirt, trying to exorcise the demons that had worked its way into his performing persona. Shaking and twisting with two and if your lucky one leg with the finest of balance. This in stark contrast to the remainder of the band who some would say are lucky to not be plagued by such demons, keeping their cool and keeping the infectious riffs constant all set, performing songs such as ‘Catcher in the Rye’

Cabins are not new to the scene by any means and have been hard at work on the touring circuit touring with other bands such The Vines, Wolf & Cub and The Scare and just quietly also are getting ready to pack their bags for a national tour with the Mess Hall and Bridezilla.

Next up were The Laurels (pictured above), a band I had heard the name of but never heard or seen before. Guitarist and chief noisemaker Piers Connor had an impressive array of guitar pedals spanning almost a quarter of the modestly sized oxford art factory stage.The Laurels sound can definitely be placed similar to bands such as My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. Similar to these bands they had the loudness factor and ethereal factor covered at the same time. Reverb is the key ingredient in the mix for the band in creating a wall of sound capable of engulfing the audience. At this stage the audience was probably at its largest and deservedly so for The Laurels, who made a considerable impact on the audience at the time. Tuning time between songs also comprised of loops, for The Laurels silence was not an option.

Rounding out the night were Parades (pictured above), whose drummer Jonathan Boulet has probably outgrown the band in stature of recent times, but it seems is just as committed to both bands. Observations also found that Parades live keyboard player was Alyx of Kyü (on later research found that the previous keyboard player had left the band) Parades sound stylistically is a little harder to place. The use of electronic drum samples at times gives them a sound similar to Radiohead, but when at full flight the sound scapes created are majestic in sound and can be compared to a post-rock band like Explosions in the Sky with added harmonious vocals and soaring crecendos. A song that displayed the two similarities was their song ‘Hunters’

A fun night was had at the Oxford Arts Factory, and I'm kicking myself at missing the earlier acts, many of whom I’d heard of but never been able to check out. Hopefully Lookout begins a successful year for the bands that participated.