As promised :

FIVE FLOORS UP
LONDON FLY WEST END
THURSDAY 8 OCTOBER

You know when there is a big buzz about a band when you have to push through crowds outside a venue and sell out notices in order just to get inside. A full two hours before the band comes on the venue is packed and the air of anticipation was very clear.

You may ask why ? because this was the band's first London gig and they have only been together a couple of months.

Well the answer is their amazing lead singer : Sophie Green. Plucked from obscurity ( I think ) by SONY TRISTAR PICTURES to sing the title track for their forthcoming movie PLANET 51 if a multi million pound animation trusts her to provide the musical impetus then it is a fair bet she must be just a little bit special.

The gig started and because of the size of the crowd and the fact I was stuck at the back it took a bit of time for the sound to settle. But once it did it became very clear that Sophie Green is not just some wannabe X factor vocalist - but the real deal and some more.

Five Floors Up are a young band playing their own brand of rock with a commercial edge and when the vocals kick in it takes the songs onto a level which is seldom seen in UK rock bands. Imagine SKIN mixed with TINA TURNER and AMY LEE : Sophie has the lot. Range - power - tone and best of all she has masses of charisma stalking the audience from the front of the tiny stage. She also looks fantastic.

Songs from the set which would certainly trouble the Top 5 and Playlists were on offer particularly the mid tempo LATELY which I am sure will have more major labels waving chequebooks at this band than the gathered throng in this small West End venue.

So what happens next ? Five Floors Up have been asked to open for an album launch by a major name in trendy Hoxton in November and then finish their London shows with a crowd pleasing Saturday at The Camden Barfly. Prior to that the PLANET 51 film and album is released.

It is about time the UK had a major female rock artist and Sophie Green with Five Floors Up have the right ingredients to be that artist. I have a feeling that the people who packed into the FLY last Thursday will be telling the story of this gig for many years to come. The rest of the story is about to happen - and Five Floors Up are surely destined to eclipse any other UK rock act in 2010. Check them out on their My Space or better still go see PLANET 51 ( released Worldwide Mid November ) or see them live.

SET LIST

Five Floors Up

1 Can't
Help Myself

2 Incredible Woman

3 Lately

4 Took Me By Surprise

5 Music Is My Life

6 Just Can
't Be

7 Exception To The Rule

8 Turn Out The Light

9 Slow Down

All by Green/Ridgeway

check them out or see the film? what a shit review.

Thanks for that Dan.

It actually was a fantastic gig.

They are playing in LONDON next THURSDAY at the very cool SOUTH OF THE BORDER supporting the INSPIRALS front man TOM HINGLEY.

Only a few tickets left on www.wegottickets.com

I challenge you to go to that gig and write your own review......

I thought the review was quite fair. I even managed to grab a set list. Very few reviewers ever bother to do that these days ( They used to in the NME )

FIVE FLOORS UP are an awesome live band. Well worth watching.

In addition go see the trailer for PLANET 51 - it looks fantastic.