Gig Review: Athlete + Broken Family Band @ CornEx, Cambridge, 5/2/08

The Broken Family Band, hailing from Cambridge (and bits of Foxton and London), are the city’s most successful band of recent years. They’ve been receiving all sorts of plaudits and not just from local press. NME, Rocksound, The Independent, The Guardian (I could go on) all talk highly of their music with Pitchfork claiming them “a triumph of urban wit over rustic convention”. So we’re expecting big things then.

Well, from way back here in the Corn Exchange’s curious V.I.P. area, below the upper balcony, it’s hard to get into such an unenthusiastic band. Those that are here for their brand of shoegaze/alt-country melancholy seem thin on the ground judging from the crowd reaction. Steven Adams, the lead singer, looks like Dec (of Ant + Dec) would look like after a hefty drinking session. He’s sporting a baggy checked shirt and it matches his tired banter with the crowd. “We don’t usually enjoy playing in Cambridge but you’ve been great”, he drones miserably. He follows that up with a resigned “Athlete are nearly on”. To be fair the band barely has time to get the crowd going but they have a go and ‘Don’t Change Your Mind’ and ‘It’s All Over’ are well-received.

From the moment the charisma of Athlete’s Joel Pott hits the stage everything changes. As he sings the first bars of opener ‘Tokyo’, from latest album ‘Beyond The Neighbourhood’, the crowd comes to life. His hard-edged, lilting yet urgent vocal is crystal-clear over the music. It’s pretty unusual to be able to catch every single syllable but that’s what both he and his sound-crew have managed to pull off. Every… single… syllable. ‘Westside’ is a joy with Pott standing alone in the spotlight, all eyes glued to him, as he slowly leads up to where the band provide the back-boost and the crowd join in with that damnable catchy chorus - “Wherever you look you can see that everybody wants to be part of the rock scene”. It’s the leaps in pitch delivery and subtle timing of the words that is so compelling - some are drawn out, others rapid-fire. The band have always managed to produced these perfect pop hits, brimming with clever lyrics and bounding, upbeat melodies, but not always received the acclaim (or airplay) each one deserves. Structured to appear impossibly difficult to perform they are just layer after layer of simplicity and are fiendishly clever.

Athlete have completely hooked the crowd by now and they begin impromptu clapping which the band encourages until it bullets them into hit single ‘Hurricane’ and searchlights swing over the masses searching out the loudest voice. Immediately mobile phones are held aloft, shining out in the darkness, each capturing their own personal memories. Behind the boys on stage four banded strips of neon light change hue and create shapes to each song whilst swathes of beams provide a backwash of colours – it’s quite a lightshow. There’s a brief respite in the songs and a face in the pit shouts out for his favourite song. “24 hours!” he yells. “We’re not playing for that long” retorts Pott with a wry smile. Then he’s suddenly serious informing us of the presence of St. John’s Ambulance and Security and promises that no-one will get hurt. We wonder where he’s going with this before he implores “So, we’ll be very disappointed if there aren’t a few people on shoulders for this next song”. The band strike up ‘Beautiful’ and a bunch of heads obligingly pop up above the crowd.

Throughout the set there are numerous guitar switches from electric to semi-acoustic and back again with a roadie scuttling on and off stage - he’s being kept busy tonight. Steven Roberts’ drums are thundering away under the quieter tracks whilst Tim Wanstall concerns himself with tinkling the ivories as well as flicking switches and turning knobs to create those “organic beats” of his. Bassist Carey Willets spends most of the gig completely absorbed in the music, swinging his head to and fro.

‘Wires’ inspires an impromptu singalong which the crowd take up and repeat back three times – all this without the band making a gesture or uttering a line and without backing. It’s quite a moment and Pott sounds honestly chuffed with the reaction. “Thank you. That’s the first time that’s happened”. ‘You Got The Style’ prompts a round of waving down the front which he returns with a warm smile. It’s tough to find anything wrong when a band is so on form and tight as this. He’s almost apologetic when revealing that they need to leave the stage before the encore - “We need to take a piss”. Such is the response that he retorts “What’s happening? I thought Cambridge was such a reserved town!” They bustle through ‘24 Hours’ take their bows and the fully-engaged crowd enthusiastically chant for more of their blustering piano-driven guitar pop-rock. They return with ‘Shake Those Windows’ and ‘Flying Over Bus Stops’ and as we all decamp to the bar or homewards we discuss nothing but just how heavily under-rated and completely unstoppable Athlete truly are.

Also online @ Music-Zine = http://www.music-zine.com/reviews/?id=420

Gig Review: Baroness – Water Rats, London 02/02/08

As a venue, the Water Rats is incredibly cramped, stiflingly hot and utterly lacking in rules or regulations. It would give any Health & Safety or DEFRA committee member a heart attack were they to discover there is no barrier, glass is allowed in the gig room, there is no security to control the crowd and there is seemingly no limit on levels of volume. Yes, it is utterly fantastic.

The gig has completely sold out and, even better, Taint has been added to the bill. They are quick to blow us away with their high-tempo rock n’ sludge groove. A large chunk of their set is naturally off the well-received 2007 ‘Secrets and Lies’ album.

The bassist, Chris West is spending a lot of time at the bottom end of his fretboard giving the three-piece a punchy, vibrant quality. Lead singer Jimbob urges the crowd on with little pep talks. “Step forward – the more you give the more we give”, he yells and we all surge in on him. They invite a mouse-like flautist to take the stage before launching into the fantastically epic ‘What the Crow Saw’ with its blinding momentum and Led Zep flair. The lads from South Wales are definitely one to watch out for.

We quickly realise how loud psych-metal outfit Kylesa are going to be when they begin setting up a second drumkit. When they finally kick things off it’s like the police have invaded a ‘Stomp’ live show! Wailing siren guitars scream bloody murder as the two beaters thrash out a syncopated series of thunderclaps creating their own mini-wind chamber of soundwaves. The hefty overdrive on the guitars blanket everything in a dizzying wash of volume. Singing duties are split between the good, the bad and the ugly triumvirate out front – the hirsute Philip Cope, blonde scream-queen Laura Pleasants and the scary-as-fuck, headbanging Catweazle look-a-like Corey Barhorst. It’s a fearsome combination and they are truly worthy of our adoration.

Baroness emerge from the gloom like battle-hardened heroes. All heads turn to the ringmaster, John Baizely, with his mighty beard, flip-down jaw and bulging eyeballs.

A man of many talents, Baizley’s artwork is selling like hot cakes at the merch stand, particularly the special poster he’s drawn just for this gig. But it’s here, with his white Gibson in hand, where he most excels. Though a combination of step and sustain effect vocals he plays the haunting opening bars of ‘Rays of Pinion’, gradually bringing in the lead riff which after an age the drummer grabs hold of and we kick off into the wonderful prog-rock and stoner metal world that Baroness have created for us. Their set is heavy on new ‘Red Album’ material and that’s exactly why we’re here cheering as ‘Birthing’, ‘Wanderlust’ and ‘Isak’ are whipped out.

The long-lost music combined with the stage’s flashing fairy lights and big gothic columns are enough to send the sanest man a bit nuts. Lo and behold, here comes our nutter. Emerging on top of the heaving crowd he is surfed right to the back of the room before being turned and fed all the way back forward. Eventually he is puked up onto the stage nearly taking out the bleary-eyed bassist Summer Welch. He clearly hasn’t finished and begins crashing his skull into the cymbal in time with the beat. After a couple of minutes of this one fan finally has had enough and plays security getting up to push him off stage before taking back his position at the front.

Throughout the band are unmoved in their determination to play seamlessly, without pause, from start to finish. The wonderfully upbeat ‘Wailing Wintry Wind’ invites us to dance with reindeers and jingle our sleigh bells. On the busier numbers the melee of whining guitars actually start drowning each other out turning the clever guitar interplay to a thick sludge. No matter though as there are plenty of songs that pound with simplicity and ‘O’Appalachia’ has that in spades. “Raise…your… voices…” belts out Baizley and we all join in with pumping fists and strained vocal chords. They end on ‘Grad’ and deafened, but delighted, we cheer them from the stage.

Photo courtesy of Rich E

Also online @ TLOBF = http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2008/02/baroness-%E2%80%93-water-rats-london-020208/

Gig Review: Korn – Brixton Academy, London, 25/01/08

You know you’re at a Korn gig when the mic stand gets the biggest cheer of the night – once when it’s brought out and screwed to the floor, then again when the roadie returns, and with a magician’s flourish, removes its cover. There she stands, the golden goddess of metal, alone on the stage soaking up the applause. It’s insane to cheer an inanimate object but cheer we do. To be honest, support act Flyleaf’s leading lady, Lacey Mosley, was less animated. Like a rocked-out Bjork she stood, playing with her hair, giving us the odd flick of her dress whilst all around her band were leaping off every amp they could find. “We want Korn” was chanted in return. They deserved a little more and eventually received it.

But now the wait is over and Korn stride forth behind their huge booming intro music. Jonathan Davis is wrapped in his black kilt, Fieldy sporting his bluest bandana. They launch into ‘Right Now’ and we devil-horn our heroes and mosh like madmen. ‘A.D.I.D.A.S.’ gets the biggest roar and the accompanying singalong almost drowns out the band. Davis is lapping it up and prompts chanting and fist-pumping which are aped by one and all. Fieldy’s slap-bass is simply stunning and he pulls out that thumb on a regular basis, holding his bass aloft when he feels worthy of a cheer. Behind him the shocking blonde tub-thumper and backing vocalist is wildly windmilling his locks before roaring bloody murder into the mic.

“Why you guys so fucking quiet?” screams Davis during a break prompting a roar so deafening he demands silence. “I need you guys to shut up for a sec”, he yells before paying tribute to the efforts of the current guitar stand-in. If I’ve got this right, it’s Rob Patterson standing in on guitar for Shane Gibson who had to “sort some shit out” who was standing in for Munky who left late last year due to family issues. Phew.

They launch into ‘Coming Undone’, deftly switching to Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ which is hollered by the whole Academy before slotting back into the song nicely again. Cracking stuff.

With the keyboards setting up the songs, intricately warping with complicated effect patterns and the drums adding vast snare drops the moshing and crowdsurfing intensifies. In fact, Ray Luzier’s drumwork is insanely complex with rapid cymbal work and mighty double-kick drills that ricochet off the walls. There’s a whopping great riser and when the dry ice is pumped on stage it truly puts him on a pedestal. Suddenly all attention is on Davis who has whipped out his bagpipes and is squeezing a truly awful sequence of drones from it but we cheer anyway – the man can do no wrong tonight.

Another cheer for ‘Faget’ and suddenly there’s a strong smell of pot smoke in the air. Must be the laser show that’s brought the stoners but, to be honest, it is mesmorizing. It wraps cages around Luzier’s kit and flashes dancing stars on the venue’s ceiling. The band shine even brighter as they gleefully whip through ‘Bottled Up Inside’, ‘Freak On A Leash’ and ‘Evolution’ before ‘Twisted Transistor’ prompts a whopping great circle pit down the front. They end on ‘Ass Itch’ which Davis claims is ‘totally my favourite track’ before disappearing off stage. The encore doesn’t quite illicit the same hero worship but it’s certainly shown that nu-metal still has a very important voice amongst its number – and that voice right now belongs to Korn.

Also online @ TLOBF = http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2008/01/korn-brixton-academy-london-250108/

Gig Review: Darkest Hour @ Cambridge Barfly 23/1/08

Formed in 1995, Darkest Hour have shifted through a number of genres over the years and are currently settled on a mixture of hardcore, death metal and punk. Since the release of last year’s fifth album, 'Deliver Us', they’ve been blazing a trail across the globe and Cambridge’s tiny Barfly venue is the lucky recipient of their monstrous sound tonight.

The stage is smothered in smoking dry ice and the band coughs their way through whilst simultaneously launching into the anthemic 'Doomsayer'. Looking something akin to a metal Jon Bon Jovi, vocalist, John Henry, is up on the amps bellowing at the crowd with Paul Burnette not far behind, vertically raising his bass so we can worship it. Somewhere amidst the gloom is drummer, Ryan Parrish, pummelling away at his double-kick - the whole heady mix hits us like a speeding train.

These guys mean business and they follow up with 'Demon(s)', a beacon amidst the gloom as Kris Norris, with snake tattoos winding round his middle digits, blazes out some monumental shredding that Mike Schleibaum riffs with across the stage. Only as the mist finally clears do we spot the incredible artwork of Baroness’ vocalist John Baizley. As well as the impressive backdrop he’s obviously been let loose on Burnette’s bass guitar – perhaps that’s why he’s been so keen to show us it.

The crowd, a real mixture of emo haircuts, bag-clutchers and headbanging metallers, are lapping it up. Their attempts at a circle pit, when Henry calls for one, leave a little to be desired. It quickly descends into a push-fest to see who’s drunkest. As they start playing the older material, 'Accessible Losses' gets quite the cheer, the strobes kick off and the dry ice is booted back up to invisible levels. Drummer Parrish, blind from the smokescreen, decides to go for a wander and stalks the crowd coaxing them to clap the beat out for him. In tiny yellow shorts he decides to take out his frustrations on the Barfly’s unfortunate central pillar, which has been blocking his view throughout, by trying to impregnate it before returning to his kit to beat out the remnants of the new album’s awesome title-track, 'Deliver Us', and leave us all gasping for air. The darkest hour approaches and we filter out exhausted, but utterly exhilarated.

Also online @ Music-Zine = http://www.music-zine.com/reviews/?id=405

News: Rolling The Sonic Dice

Hi folks. Thank you very much for your continued interest in my blog. All your comments and subscriptions are very much appreciated. Now that I have a large enough number of music reviews, my colleague and I are creating a dedicated music site called 'Sonic Dice' where my reviews will appear alongside those of our dedicated review team - hopefully good things will come of the collaboration. This blog will remain active in the meantime.



Update Jan 2010: http://johnskibeat.blogspot.com/2009/12/news-sonic-dice-rip.html