好色先生TV

Seconds out鈥� And here we are on round two of 2016鈥檚 Construction Rocks at the Scala in King鈥檚 Cross. After the previous night鈥檚 鈥淣ew Band鈥� evening this one is devoted to 鈥淰intage Bands鈥濃�� And so returns a vintage judge in the form of 好色先生TV editor and music aficiando Sarah Richardson who is back on the judges鈥� balcony along with new recruits Leah De Silva, deputy chief executive of LandAid, Alistair Lenczner, director of Expedition Engineering, and Tom Bullen of Air-Edel Recording Studio.

First up is Cushman and Wakefield鈥檚 Soul Agent who start off this night of rock at Construction Rocks with the Primal Scream rock classic Rocks. And it does. Sporting a nice line in glittery clothes (at least the singer鈥檚 dress and guitarist鈥檚 trousers) they reel off a further couple of Construction Rocks classic covers (Kings of Leon鈥檚 Eighteen and Otis Reading鈥檚 Hard to Handle) before closing with a pleasingly shouty and out-of-left field version of Blur鈥檚 Parklife. 鈥淚鈥檝e been here before,鈥� says Sarah Richardson (possibly to try to show the new judges who鈥檚 boss), before continuing: 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e never seen a first band on that gets people dancing before now.鈥�

Next up are the Propheads from CLT specialists KLH, whose singer marches/prances onto the stage with a red feather boa before doing something extremely entertaining to the Rolling Stones鈥� Paint it Black. Take notes people, this is what a frontman looks like. With the prop of a bunch of good musicians behind him he dances, shouts and charms through some Artic Monkeys, Green Day and an awesome version of the Pixies鈥� Where is My Mind, which morphs into No Woman, No Cry. 鈥淐ross laminated timber has a whole new meaning,鈥� cries compere Joanna Averley. Hmm鈥�

Then there鈥檚 the Cats (of Catalyst Housing), with their distinctive cat ears and strong vocal performances (both the lead singer and backing harmonies). They too have quite an eclectic set with some more obvious crowd pleasers (Sweet Child of Mine, Play that Funky Music White Boy) sat next to Alanis Morisette鈥檚 You Oughta Know and a very Florence Welsh-y version of You鈥檝e Got the Love.

And then things get weird. And wet. Well, more nautical than wet. Taking a cue from Bill Murray鈥檚 character in the Wes Anderson film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, the stage is suddenly decorated with a prop shark, inflatable porpoise are tossed into the crowd and Levitt Bernstein Associates鈥� Team Zissou (of whom there are many, including a violinist and a flautist) emerge in Zissou-esque matching red wooly hats and proceed to perform a medley on seemingly unconnected songs including Fatboy Slim鈥檚 Praise You, Elvis鈥� A Little Less Conversation, Play That Funky Music White Boy (again), and so on鈥� It鈥檚 like an early noughties dance remix mash up played by a nu folk version of Arcade Fire in fancy dress. Which is not your usual Construction Rocks cup of tea but I thought was brilliant. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to buy a red wooly hat tomorrow because I鈥檝e just realised there鈥檚 a Zissou-shaped hole in my life,鈥� says judge Leah De Silva. Quite.

鈥淎nd what could follow that?鈥� I hear you gasp, reader. Well, I鈥檒l tell you鈥� It鈥檚 only reigning Construction Rocks champions Zero Charm (from Balfour Beatty). Arguably no band is quite as Construction Rocks as Zero Charm. They work in construction. They play classic rock. In many ways they embody the spirit of the event. So we get a guitarist with a big-rimmed leather hat, a singer who emerges initially in a 1970s heavy metal band black hooded cape, and then a set made up of belting covers of Bon Jovi鈥檚 Living on a Prayer, Van Halen鈥檚 Jump, AC DC鈥檚 Highway to Hell, and Guns and Roses鈥� Sweet Child of Mine (a reoccurring Construction Rocks favourite). They don鈥檛 dress it up as anything it isn鈥檛. They just do it really well. And the judges raved about them.

In a similar vein we have Mace鈥檚 White City Vultures. They might not be quite as metal as Zero Charm but they鈥檙e straightforward rock 鈥榥鈥� rollers with an open-shirted rock god front man and a guitarist who does good 鈥済uitar face鈥� when playing solos. So we have a classic set, opening with the (daunting to play live, I would imagine) Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones, Bowies鈥� Ziggy Stardust, and then bringing things up to date with The Killers鈥� All These Things That I Have Done.

No Smoke Without Fire, from WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, have an interesting band uniform in the form of T-shirts with a holographic flame effect on them. Nice. But would things get steamy with Team Zissou? Anyway - it鈥檚 a bit of a younger vibe than the last couple of veteran outfits but the rocking continues with some fire-inspired song/band choices (By the Way by Red Hot Chilli Peppers and This Sex is On Fire by Kings of Leon) and a last minute horn section addition for the end of the set. With the crowd demanding 鈥渙ne more song, one more song鈥� as they finished, they were, perhaps, this year鈥檚 people鈥檚 choice.

And then the final act of the evening 鈥� Deloitte鈥檚 Strawberry Blues. They seem to start their set with the intro of The Who鈥檚 Won鈥檛 Get Fooled Again (my favourite Who song). But then stop. Some kind of cruel joke? I was fooled. What we get instead is All Along the Watchetower, another Van Halen Jump and the Artic Monkeys鈥� I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, all delivered in an effortlessly cool 1980s new wave rock style.

And so the end of the night, and indeed this year鈥檚 mammoth event. After a longer than usual consultation the judges emerged from on high to give the results.

And the winners were:

Zero Charm Best band
(with a high commendation to No Smoke Without Fire)
Propheads Best stage performance
White City Vultures Best fundraiser

Well done to everyone involved, including all the bands, all the judges, the event organisers, and the crew and venue staff who made it all happen. See you next year鈥�

Construction Rocks was conceived by Bill Price and Nigel Fraser in 2007. Since its conception Construction Rocks has raised over 拢90,000. This year the event raised over 拢21,000. The funds go primarily to property industry charity LandAid (), among others. For more information go to