Way out in deepest darkest Shepherds Bush, away from the hustle and bustle of the Empire or the numerous world famous venues in the great city known as London lies a converted public toilet, named for no apparently obvious reason Ginglik. It’s nice to see that this public convenience has retained its status as a public convenience of a different kind, although you can still relieve yourself inside so long as you pay the required entry fee or you are lucky enough to be on the guestlist.

The stage could easily be described as miniscule, but then this is to be expected in such a small confined space. Not the greatest location for a band with more then two performers. Maybe the organisers should have thought of this before decided to use the venue but then teething problems are part of the business and the Bees performed 'Pressure (Running Away)', their debut single, for an audience of only 45+ people. The band certainly tried their best to impress and this was appreciated by small but enthusiastic crowd.

Some elements went wrong like the visuals or the blinding light system of the venue and some programmed elements of the songs. But BeeStings showed they have the musical material to impress bigger audiences and create a solid fan base that could easily identify with their, almost cynical, sense of style.

If anything is even remotely worth remembering from this gig it would be, for me, the amusingly theatrical performance combined with an outstandingly and technical precision, that BeeStings managed to achieve in this far from ideal venue. The band's attitude was duly acknowledged and appreciated by the crowd most noticeably during their rendition of 'Most' that I was later told is a potential new single - when the cosy but quiet atmosphere suddenly sparked into life in a rush that filled the room with approving nods and even a few cheers from the front.

This wee spark was repeated at the finale when the band performed 'Gold Digger' a simple, yet effective straight up rock track. Perhaps this performance didn't unveil the potential of the song. BeeStings needed a bigger hive to produce the honey they undoubtedly can, let’s hope they can get out of the Ginglik ghettos and into the Empirical space just down the way.

Text: Blair Cartwright