The Late Greats at Funktion Rooms

The Late Greats (below) played at Eastbourne’s Funktion Rooms earlier this week:For what seems like eons before it opened last year, Funktion Rooms was being billed as the club to put Eastbourne on the touring map. Those of us who remember the venue as the despicable townie haunt that was The House of Commons (or The House of Horrors as indie snobs would call it) were dubious. But no, we were reliably informed that Funktion Rooms was going to be awesome. I ventured there this week for the first time to see my buddies The Late Greats perform at a freshers night.

In spite of the fact that zillions of pounds have been spent on revamping the building, I was disappointed to discover that it looked pretty much the same as it did in the bad old days, but what was most alarming was the disgracefully poor quality of the sound in the main room. Imagine the most offensive sound in the world (you’re thinking of Johnny Borrell duetting with Bono on a cover of Red Hot Chili Peppers' Hump De Bump aren’t you?) and you’re still only about half way towards getting an idea of just how nasty it was. The term ‘muddy’ does not justify its sheer awfulness. I felt as though someone was power-drilling directly into my brain.Credit then is due to The Late Greats for putting on a decent show in the face of such adversity. They did as well as could be expected in their half-hour set considering I could have probably built a better PA by blue-tacking a few ipod speakers together. Add this to the fact that they were playing to a bunch of inattentive, hammered freshers who were all dressed as Where’s Wally? and you get an idea of what the four-piece were up against. But they rattled out their tracks with zest and aggression, not least He’s Not It and standout track Bang Bang, which is a chunk of exhilarating pop so bursting with energy that it could make a corpse dance.

Shit sound or not, the kids seemed to have a great time (below). I suppose if you’ve drunk your body-weight in tequila, Funktion Rooms probably seems like the best place in the world. It isn’t.I have since been advised that the sound in the venue is “immeasurably better” than when it first opened. I’m only glad I wasn’t there then to hear it.