Saturday night in The Barfly

On Saturday night - which already feels so long ago - I bumbled down to Liverpool's Barfly for Los Angeles party-starters The Mae Shi. I'd only heard their name in passing and mainly went to watch Birmingham trio Johnny Foreigner. I can't know about every band. Or can I?
There was a local band on the loft (e.g upstairs) stage when I arrived, and I didn't catch their name. Rude! I'm glad that young bands can get support slots to try out their songs and possibly hone their talent. But that doesn't mean I want to hear them thrashing through attempts to sound like The Strokes/Libertines/Joy Division. This band, whoever they were, weren't particularly bad or particularly good. They were particularly mediocre, which is the best a first-band-of-the-night can hope for. Strange to think that every night of the week in every city and large town there are similar bands playing similar songs, while their friends snap camera phone pics for the MySpace. Such is life.
The Lionheart Brothers were the next support. Who needs two supports? Honestly. The guitarist was wearing a glittery headscarf, fiddling with a wah pedal and looked a bit like Naboo, so I feared a psychedelic wig-out. I assumed they were Norwegian, because there were lots of LIPA students in the room. Norwegians love studying at LIPA. I haven't discovered why. Anyway, The Lionheart Brothers (proof that all the good band names have been taken) were actually rather good. Psychedlic, yes, but not but without too much noodling around. The singer looked like a bargain basement Steve Buscemi.
Johnny Foreigner were good, and just as sweaty as their previous Barfly gig just after Christmas. My heart really likes them and for them to do well, but my head tells me their songs are too chaotic and unlovely for them to make the jump from good NME reviews to success (e.g earning a decent living from being a band).
The Mae Shi were good, although a bit self-consciously wacky. They started and ended their set from within the audience, which was like, dude, challenging. It was a fun-filled half hour involved an omnichord, fractured pop and a large sheet waved above the audience. So that was it, another gig. And then I went home.