Larkhall quartet to play Academy event

Feb 5 2009 by Richard Mooney, Hamilton Advertiser

LARKHALL band, The 4/5s, have been given the chance of a lifetime after being confirmed on the line-up of talent-spotting event The Next Big Thing at the Carling Academy.

They will play alongside headliners The Law and other unsigned bands such as The 1,2,3s, Acute Riot and Casino Brag.

Organised by the Glasgow bar/nightclub Box, The Next Big Thing is a selection of the top eight unsigned acts who wowed crowds at the venue in the last year.

Playing to an audience of around 3000, the bands will have the opportunity to impress industry professionals in the hope of clinching a record deal.

After playing several gigs at Box, the 4/5s were told they had a chance of being in the line-up of The Next Big Thing.

However, on one fateful Saturday night last November the Larkhall boys feared that their spot at the O2 Academy date would be lost after having already been booked to play in Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street venue, ABC.

Vocalist Kevin Feeney explained, saying: “We had already booked a gig at the ABC on the night Box wanted us to play.

“So it was suggested that we come back to Box in the future and play.

“But I thought, why don’t we just come straight over after we’re finished at the ABC?

“We crossed Sauchiehall Street and played right away. By the end of our set they were sold and we were in.”

The Larkhall quartet, formed in 2005, is made up of Feeney (vocals), Andrew Robbie (guitar/synth), Bryan Forbes (bass) and Pat “Grenade” McQuade (drums).

Last January they released their debut EP, White Russian, which won Jim Gellatly’s Myspace Cadet on XFM.

The 4/5s will play The Next Big Thing at the O2 Academy on Sunday, February 21, at 6.15pm.

Tickets cost £10 and can be bought through the band or by logging on to www.ticketweb.co.uk or www.tickets-scotland.com and searching for The Next Big Thing.