Har Mar Superstar

Who the hell is responsible for this crazy combo?

Take a pinch of Midlands screamo-core, a dash of Scottish emo and a generous helping of greasy porn star music and what you have is one of the weirdest line-ups to hit Liverpool in a good while.

Post hardcore noiseniks Tribute To Nothing have been on the scene for eleven years (count ‘em!) and despite constantly touring their arses off they’ve never got much recognition. Often dismissed as just another shouty metal band, listen to last year’s Act Without Words album and you realise that they are one of the most intense, yet mature bands in Britain. Unphased by the half-empty venue TTN deliver a jarring and fixating performance that drives you to aching. Highlight has to be the stunning ‘Crossed Out’, which goes to show that it is possible to fit a piano into a metal song.

Another band who aren’t shy of touring are Mercury Tilt Switch, who’ve just had a series of support slots for Hell is for Heroes. Having formed four years ago at Dundee University, MTS are a definite gem amongst the current influx of new Scottish talent. Their unique mix of tender melodies and chaotic whirlwind guitars is really, really exciting. If you like Biffy Clyro you’re gonna love Mercury Tilt Switch.

By this point the uni’s getting pretty busy, and the drunken students who turned up for their normal Monday night pulling-fest don’t know what’s hit them. Who’s this silk-robed, rat-tailed fat man who’s taken to the stage? Ah that’ll be Har Mar Superstar then. ‘Give it up for me, I’m fucking awesome!’ croons Har Mar, aka 25 year-old Sean Tillmann. Let’s clarify exactly what this set consists of: a middle-class white man singing along to funky backing tracks. There is a mixed response. Some people fail to see the novelty/humour value and leave the room in disgust. The rest, including an army of rude-girls on the front row, realise that this guy is actually pretty cool. In a sleazy way. An overweight Prince, if you will.

And indeed the party is in full flow. That is until his backing tape fucks up. Suddenly Mr Superstar is just a huffy drama queen who is left looking pretty stupid. The uncomfortable few minutes when Har Mar whinges at the sound-engineers make his reliance on the backing tracks painfully obvious.

The technical hitch is remedied and the show continues, but now you can’t help feeling that the audience is laughing at him rather than with him. A cover of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’ gets a good reaction from the crowd, which is followed by him performing headstands in just his y-fronts. At the end of his set, Har Mar runs into the audience so they can ‘feel him’. Embarrassingly the crowd parts, no one wanting to get too close to this sweaty half-naked mess.

It’s been an odd night. Two genuine and passionate acts to look out for in the future followed by the tackiest artist on the market at the moment. Enjoy Har Mar Superstar while you can but if you like music with integrity then it was tonight’s support acts who are really important.