So the final gig of the year has now been and gone for Havoc Reviews but getting there wasn't all fun and games. Yes, I'm talking about the weather. As usual Britain gets a few inches of snow and the whole country collapses in a fit of panic which made us pretty much screwed for getting to London. However, the trains managed to pull themselves together at the last minute and so everything turned out fine in the end with the exception of it being bloody freezing.
So onto the venue. Pretty much exactly the same as last time but with a few added improvements which came in the form of the giant screens they put up so everyone could see (although this may have just been because they were filming). Also, I finally stumbled across the mysterious invisible cloakroom that I'd never found before. All in all, pretty much the same as last time. 7/10.
Taking to the stage first were an unknown-to-us band named Now, Now Every Children. They started off well with their relatively calm and relaxing music. However, after about two songs the repetition started to take it's toll and after about four songs I was hopping from one foot to another simply to keep myself entertained. They sound ok on their Myspace so I recommend that you check them out. Just don't go and see them if you're expecting a lively gig. 35/100. http://www.myspace.com/nownoweverychildren
Following them were an unexpected addition to the line up called Paper Route. Like Now Now Every Children, Paper Route seemed to lack something vital for a good live performance, mainly energy. Not to be completely unfair though, like those before them they're not completely bad. 34/100. http://www.myspace.com/paperroute
It was obvious from the roar of applause that ensued when the lights went down next that a lot of the crowd were here to see You Me At Six. From what I'd heard about them I was prepared for something bold and energetic. Thankfully, that's exactly what the crowd got and so I found myself in a mosh pit for most of the set. However, the awful, muffled sound quality meant that they were nowhere near as good as they could have been. Luckily, we'll be seeing them headlining in the new year so watch out for a review where I'm sure they'll be getting more positive feedback. 55/100. http://www.myspace.com/youmeatsix
A word of advice that I'll give from firsthand experience: If you're going to a gig, remember to drink plenty of water. Sadly for myself, it just so happened that I forgot to have a drink all day and so was dehydrated big time by the time Paramore took to the stage. Not to be beaten though, we ventured forward into the chaos of the standing area and ended up being trampled. I was pleasantly surprised, expecting it to be a fairly tame set. Oh how wrong I was. Hoards of teenage boys and girls pushing, shoving and using my head as an arm rest. Paramore played an excellent set, a mixture of songs from all three albums with highlights including That's What You Get, Crushcrushcrush, Where The Lines Overlap, My Heart and an acoustic performance of Misguided Ghosts. However, the real highlight of the night was set closer Brick By Boring Brick which saw those down the front covered in silver confetti. In terms of entertainment though, I have to give it to the man who pulled his girlfriend up on stage and proposed to her amidst thousands of "Awws" from the crowd. Overall then Paramore were a Whole Lot Better than I ever thought they would be and I take back all the bad things I may have previously said about Hayley because she sure did prove me wrong. 85/100. http://www.myspace.com/paramore
NOTE; Gemma's ratings;
Venue: 8/10
Now, Now Every Children: 35/100
Paper Route: 35/100
You Me At Six: 65/100
Paramore: 88/100
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Monday, 2 November 2009
Green Day, Wembley Arena, Sunday 1st November 2009.
I put to you the age old question: Is it better to see a band in a small, sweaty, dirty venue or a shiny, bright stadium or arena? To be honest, I prefer those dark, dingy little venues that parents do not often approve of their children going to. The sort of venues where you have to queue down some dark alley and you get strange people forcing leaflets upon you. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Well, sadly Green Day have obviously reached the stage where they play Arena shows instead, or Stadium shows (they play Wembley Stadium next year). But what of Wembley Arena? It has a nice fountain outside that lights up; the kind of fountain that little children run through and then complain when they get wet. Luckily, I did not see much of this fountain because I was in the queue for approximately one minute... one of the many advantages of having an arena with many entrances. The inside is of course typical venue style so I don't really have much to say about that. Overall, good security, lots of places for a good bottle of water (useful for when you nearly faint) and a pretty decent size. 7/10.
The one support act of the night were a band named Prima Donna. To be completely honest, sometimes image is important and if you take to the stage looking like a twat, people are automatically going to assume that you are in fact, a twat... Sadly, they looked like a bunch of twats. To make things worse, their music wasn't much better and they didn't excite the crowd much. I take that back, they didn't excite the crowd at all. Definitely not my cup of tea, or the rest of the crowds it would seem. 35/100. http://www.myspace.com/primadonna
And so, after years of Green Day deprivation, they take to the stage at roughly 8:01PM... after someone dressed up as a pink rabbit has paraded around the stage drinking beer and dancing to the YMCA. Their set somehow managed to last a staggering two and a half hours, and included a mighty setlist of over 30 songs. This setlist had something for everyone; old fans, American Idiot fans and new fans alike as well as a whole load of cover songs including: Dancing With Myself (Billy Idol), Highway To Hell (AC/DC), Iron Man (Black Sabbath) and Knowledge (Operation Ivy). The whole setlist also included: Song of The Century, 21st Century Breakdown, Know Your Enemy, East Jesus Nowhere, Holiday, The Static Age, Give Me Novacaine, Letterbomb, Are We The Waiting, St Jimmy, Scattered, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, 2000 Light Years Away, Hitchin' A Ride, Welcome To Paradise, When I Come Around, Brain Stew, Basket Case, She, 21 Guns, Minority, American Idiot, Jesus Of Suburbia, Macy's Day Parade, Wake Me Up When September Ends and Good Riddance (Time of Your Life). Suprisingly, there were MORE songs than that. Not only did they manage to cram all these songs into their set but they also managed to get about 15 people up on stage with them. 10 who all fell on the floor, 3 to 'form a band' (the guitarist of this band then stage dived back into the crowd), one to wear a crown and one boy little boy who Billie Joe caught on his phone and was therefore embarrassed in front of everyone by being made to climb down from the seated section, climb onstage and stand in the middle waving his arms along to the next song. Other events also involved the whole band dressing up, Billie Joe getting a hose out to spray us folks down the front, and firing t-shirts into the crowd via a confusing mechanism that vaguely resembled a rocket launcher. Finally I would like to give a round of applause to the guy who decided to dress up as Tinky Winky. This was a night that I had been waiting for for years. It did not fail on it's mission to entertain. 90/100. http://www.myspace.com/greenday
NOTE; Gemma is beginning to miss TOO many gigs :(
The one support act of the night were a band named Prima Donna. To be completely honest, sometimes image is important and if you take to the stage looking like a twat, people are automatically going to assume that you are in fact, a twat... Sadly, they looked like a bunch of twats. To make things worse, their music wasn't much better and they didn't excite the crowd much. I take that back, they didn't excite the crowd at all. Definitely not my cup of tea, or the rest of the crowds it would seem. 35/100. http://www.myspace.com/primadonna
And so, after years of Green Day deprivation, they take to the stage at roughly 8:01PM... after someone dressed up as a pink rabbit has paraded around the stage drinking beer and dancing to the YMCA. Their set somehow managed to last a staggering two and a half hours, and included a mighty setlist of over 30 songs. This setlist had something for everyone; old fans, American Idiot fans and new fans alike as well as a whole load of cover songs including: Dancing With Myself (Billy Idol), Highway To Hell (AC/DC), Iron Man (Black Sabbath) and Knowledge (Operation Ivy). The whole setlist also included: Song of The Century, 21st Century Breakdown, Know Your Enemy, East Jesus Nowhere, Holiday, The Static Age, Give Me Novacaine, Letterbomb, Are We The Waiting, St Jimmy, Scattered, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, 2000 Light Years Away, Hitchin' A Ride, Welcome To Paradise, When I Come Around, Brain Stew, Basket Case, She, 21 Guns, Minority, American Idiot, Jesus Of Suburbia, Macy's Day Parade, Wake Me Up When September Ends and Good Riddance (Time of Your Life). Suprisingly, there were MORE songs than that. Not only did they manage to cram all these songs into their set but they also managed to get about 15 people up on stage with them. 10 who all fell on the floor, 3 to 'form a band' (the guitarist of this band then stage dived back into the crowd), one to wear a crown and one boy little boy who Billie Joe caught on his phone and was therefore embarrassed in front of everyone by being made to climb down from the seated section, climb onstage and stand in the middle waving his arms along to the next song. Other events also involved the whole band dressing up, Billie Joe getting a hose out to spray us folks down the front, and firing t-shirts into the crowd via a confusing mechanism that vaguely resembled a rocket launcher. Finally I would like to give a round of applause to the guy who decided to dress up as Tinky Winky. This was a night that I had been waiting for for years. It did not fail on it's mission to entertain. 90/100. http://www.myspace.com/greenday
NOTE; Gemma is beginning to miss TOO many gigs :(
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Biffy Clyro, Brighton Dome, Monday 26th October 2009.
So another venue is brought up to the firing line to be metaphorically shot down, judged and critiqued... this time it's the Brighton Dome. Although it may look like the sort of place where some middle aged man takes to the stage in green tights pretending to be Peter Pan (yes, I'm talking about a pantomime) it's actually a pretty decent building. Clean and looking newly refurbished, I particularly enjoyed the complete lack of a queue outside. It seemed that they opted for the 'let's just let the fans stand wherever and hope they don't crush us when we open the doors' option, which worked for me as it meant I was only outside for a few minutes. 7/10... However, I may just be biased because I love Brighton.
Tubelord: the first supports of the night. Now, this band completely divided my opinion for a number of reasons so I'll sum up the good and the bad. The bad: From the glittery sequined top the bassist was wearing to the downright dodgy jeans the guitarist/vocalist wore, they looked like they were more focussed on becoming characters from the Mighty Boosh rather than musicians. Commenting on the bassist, I couldn't tell whether he was being serious or not. He vaguely resembled that scene from Alien when the alien bursts out of that poor man's stomach. And one more point to bring up; the vocals didn't really work live. However, the positive: They can play their instruments well and the music was pretty darn good. Also, their drummer held everything together. Respect to the drummer. 39/100. http://www.myspace.com/tubelord
The second support band came in the form of Pulled Apart By Horses. Not knowing what to expect, I decided to sit out for this one but I'll admit I was extremely impressed by their bold, energetic performance. Not only did they manage to get the first mosh pit of the night started but they also got everyone down the front simultaneously high-fiving as well as naming everyone sitting down at the back 'boring people with piles'. A good sense of humour always goes down well in my opinion. 65/100. http://www.myspace.com/pulledapartbyhorses
As the curtain falls, the crowd gets their first glimpse of the stage. Layer upon layer upon layer of lights fill the background and even before Biffy take to the stage you can tell it's gonna be a good set, simply because they've made the effort. When they do take to the stage they immediately dive straight in with That Golden Rule and the previously mentioned lights blind every member of the audience. I must say, although there was not much interaction between the crowd and Biffy, the fact that they didn't really talk did not come across as rude or arrogant but gave this heightened mystery which makes you think 'What are they going to play next?' What they did play next is Puzzle almost in its entirety, old favourites such as Joy. Discovery. Invention, Justboy and Glitter and Trauma and new single The Captain. They really did play an excellent set and the only criticism I have is that it took a lot to get the crowd going. There was a lot of singing along and clapping but nothing really exiting like a decent mosh pit... Highlights of the set include Who's Got A Match?, Machines and set closer Mountains. Based entirely on Biffy's efforts, their amazing live performance and good sound quality they get an 82/100. http://www.myspace.com/biffyclyro
NOTE; Gemma was not at this gig either :(
Tubelord: the first supports of the night. Now, this band completely divided my opinion for a number of reasons so I'll sum up the good and the bad. The bad: From the glittery sequined top the bassist was wearing to the downright dodgy jeans the guitarist/vocalist wore, they looked like they were more focussed on becoming characters from the Mighty Boosh rather than musicians. Commenting on the bassist, I couldn't tell whether he was being serious or not. He vaguely resembled that scene from Alien when the alien bursts out of that poor man's stomach. And one more point to bring up; the vocals didn't really work live. However, the positive: They can play their instruments well and the music was pretty darn good. Also, their drummer held everything together. Respect to the drummer. 39/100. http://www.myspace.com/tubelord
The second support band came in the form of Pulled Apart By Horses. Not knowing what to expect, I decided to sit out for this one but I'll admit I was extremely impressed by their bold, energetic performance. Not only did they manage to get the first mosh pit of the night started but they also got everyone down the front simultaneously high-fiving as well as naming everyone sitting down at the back 'boring people with piles'. A good sense of humour always goes down well in my opinion. 65/100. http://www.myspace.com/pulledapartbyhorses
As the curtain falls, the crowd gets their first glimpse of the stage. Layer upon layer upon layer of lights fill the background and even before Biffy take to the stage you can tell it's gonna be a good set, simply because they've made the effort. When they do take to the stage they immediately dive straight in with That Golden Rule and the previously mentioned lights blind every member of the audience. I must say, although there was not much interaction between the crowd and Biffy, the fact that they didn't really talk did not come across as rude or arrogant but gave this heightened mystery which makes you think 'What are they going to play next?' What they did play next is Puzzle almost in its entirety, old favourites such as Joy. Discovery. Invention, Justboy and Glitter and Trauma and new single The Captain. They really did play an excellent set and the only criticism I have is that it took a lot to get the crowd going. There was a lot of singing along and clapping but nothing really exiting like a decent mosh pit... Highlights of the set include Who's Got A Match?, Machines and set closer Mountains. Based entirely on Biffy's efforts, their amazing live performance and good sound quality they get an 82/100. http://www.myspace.com/biffyclyro
NOTE; Gemma was not at this gig either :(
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Bowling For Soup, Margate Winter Gardens, Wednesday 21st October 2009.
I will open this blog with one statement: The venue IS important! The venue has to be right. It creates an atmosphere. It adds to the whole night. And I'm going to be honest here because that's what I do... Margate Winter Gardens was (to put it simply) a bit crap. From the complete lack of a cloakroom and the dodgy seating lurking at the back, to the old-people-convention style of the building... it just wasn't working for me. Not to mention the completely overdone security (including members of staff watching the crowd from the balconies like some giant birds of prey wearing bright yellow jackets). The whole thing just wasn't right. 3/10.
Some of the supports however, made up for it. First up were The Leftovers, a band hailing from Portland who were included in the free downloads when buying tickets. Now, although the sound quality was pretty terrible throughout their set (admittedly this is not their fault), their enthusiasm and energy made up for it. Not to mention the fact that they aren't actually a bad band. They have a nice, happy sound which fit with the overall vibes of the gig. I think they need a year or two to grow a bit and improve their live performance but they will be good. 40/100. http://www.myspace.com/theleftovers
But wait, what is this? A rapper at Bowling For Soup? A rapper who starts mosh pits!?! Never. But apparently it did happen and you had to see it to believe it. Yes folks, 'self-proclaimed originator of post-punk laptop rap' MC Lars played a bloody brilliant set. A set which involved the craziest entrance I've seen before with a projected video of someone hacking up machines and everyone taking to the stage with their backs to the crowd, followed by a very creative performance involving more projected images of somewhat completely unrelated topics, like Charlie the unicorn. I don't even care that I couldn't understand what he was rapping about because whatever it was, it sounded good. Accompanied by a band, MC Lars fit in much more than he should. Different, creative and fun. That's what a good support band should be. 65/100. (And that's a GOOD mark considering I won't give over 70 to supports). http://www.myspace.com/mclars
So it would seem that (out of the three supports) everyone really wanted to see Zebrahead. I myself was excited about seeing them play live and so, in typical style, what happened? Well, obviously they were awful is what happened. The sound quality, if possible, got even worse. Guitars and bass were muted too much, so much so that I couldn't even feel the bass pounding in the floor. (Note: You should always feel the bass in the floor. It's practically an untold rule.) I'll admit they had stage presence, but it was the wrong kind; full of unnecessary swearing and a 'check us out, we're so cool' attitude. Therefore, to rebel, Laura and I took a break at the back of the venue on those previously mentioned 'dodgy seats'. Whilst there we witnessed something that I couldn't quite figure out. Amidst the crowd, fans were making hand gestures while the band shouted something that resembled a rather unpleasant word which would surely burn my hands if I typed it. Now, I'm not saying that they were saying this word but the awful sound quality implied it and so, because they were utter crap, Zebrahead get a 30/100. http://www.myspace.com/zebrahead. At the same time though, they don't sound that bad on Myspace... the power of editing of course.
And that just about brings us round to quite possibly one of the funniest bands in existence, Bowling For Soup. The fact that this tour is called the Party In Your Pants tour adds testament to this statement. Taking to the stage with The Bitch Song, they immediately get the crowd singing "You're a bitch but I love you anyway", not exactly something that appears in friendly conversation but still the crowd were singing it like it was a compliment. And so it seems only appropriate that one of the next songs to follow is named 'My Wena'. Such a crowd pleaser it was too and I'm being completely honest. The set list also included the BFS classics; High School Never Ends, Girl All The Bad Guys Want, Punk Rock 101, I'm Gay and When We Die as well as a superbly played Almost and new songs No Hablo Inglés (one of my favourites off Sorry For Partyin') and Hooray For Beer which really does include the lyrics "Hooray for beer, I'm really glad you're here'. The best song of the night however was rather unexpected I must say because it was A Really Cool Dance Song during which all the supports took to stage to dance with their beer and the crowd was told to 'shake what ya mamma gave ya' which they did. And of course, it would not be a BFS gig without any jokes being made between songs. Not only this but they even somehow managed to crack jokes left, right and centre IN songs. There also followed for the first time ever attempted in 'Marrrrrgate' a Bowling For Soup beverage break during which the band sat around the drum kit drinking beer and a photo shoot where all four members stood at the front of the stage posing for the crowd while everyone got their phones out to take photos. A really excellent set played by a band I've been waiting to see for a long time. 75/100. http://www.myspace.com/bowlingforsoup
NOTE; Gemma was not at this gig :(
Photos courtesy of LauraLoo. :)
Some of the supports however, made up for it. First up were The Leftovers, a band hailing from Portland who were included in the free downloads when buying tickets. Now, although the sound quality was pretty terrible throughout their set (admittedly this is not their fault), their enthusiasm and energy made up for it. Not to mention the fact that they aren't actually a bad band. They have a nice, happy sound which fit with the overall vibes of the gig. I think they need a year or two to grow a bit and improve their live performance but they will be good. 40/100. http://www.myspace.com/theleftovers
But wait, what is this? A rapper at Bowling For Soup? A rapper who starts mosh pits!?! Never. But apparently it did happen and you had to see it to believe it. Yes folks, 'self-proclaimed originator of post-punk laptop rap' MC Lars played a bloody brilliant set. A set which involved the craziest entrance I've seen before with a projected video of someone hacking up machines and everyone taking to the stage with their backs to the crowd, followed by a very creative performance involving more projected images of somewhat completely unrelated topics, like Charlie the unicorn. I don't even care that I couldn't understand what he was rapping about because whatever it was, it sounded good. Accompanied by a band, MC Lars fit in much more than he should. Different, creative and fun. That's what a good support band should be. 65/100. (And that's a GOOD mark considering I won't give over 70 to supports). http://www.myspace.com/mclars
So it would seem that (out of the three supports) everyone really wanted to see Zebrahead. I myself was excited about seeing them play live and so, in typical style, what happened? Well, obviously they were awful is what happened. The sound quality, if possible, got even worse. Guitars and bass were muted too much, so much so that I couldn't even feel the bass pounding in the floor. (Note: You should always feel the bass in the floor. It's practically an untold rule.) I'll admit they had stage presence, but it was the wrong kind; full of unnecessary swearing and a 'check us out, we're so cool' attitude. Therefore, to rebel, Laura and I took a break at the back of the venue on those previously mentioned 'dodgy seats'. Whilst there we witnessed something that I couldn't quite figure out. Amidst the crowd, fans were making hand gestures while the band shouted something that resembled a rather unpleasant word which would surely burn my hands if I typed it. Now, I'm not saying that they were saying this word but the awful sound quality implied it and so, because they were utter crap, Zebrahead get a 30/100. http://www.myspace.com/zebrahead. At the same time though, they don't sound that bad on Myspace... the power of editing of course.
And that just about brings us round to quite possibly one of the funniest bands in existence, Bowling For Soup. The fact that this tour is called the Party In Your Pants tour adds testament to this statement. Taking to the stage with The Bitch Song, they immediately get the crowd singing "You're a bitch but I love you anyway", not exactly something that appears in friendly conversation but still the crowd were singing it like it was a compliment. And so it seems only appropriate that one of the next songs to follow is named 'My Wena'. Such a crowd pleaser it was too and I'm being completely honest. The set list also included the BFS classics; High School Never Ends, Girl All The Bad Guys Want, Punk Rock 101, I'm Gay and When We Die as well as a superbly played Almost and new songs No Hablo Inglés (one of my favourites off Sorry For Partyin') and Hooray For Beer which really does include the lyrics "Hooray for beer, I'm really glad you're here'. The best song of the night however was rather unexpected I must say because it was A Really Cool Dance Song during which all the supports took to stage to dance with their beer and the crowd was told to 'shake what ya mamma gave ya' which they did. And of course, it would not be a BFS gig without any jokes being made between songs. Not only this but they even somehow managed to crack jokes left, right and centre IN songs. There also followed for the first time ever attempted in 'Marrrrrgate' a Bowling For Soup beverage break during which the band sat around the drum kit drinking beer and a photo shoot where all four members stood at the front of the stage posing for the crowd while everyone got their phones out to take photos. A really excellent set played by a band I've been waiting to see for a long time. 75/100. http://www.myspace.com/bowlingforsoup
NOTE; Gemma was not at this gig :(
Photos courtesy of LauraLoo. :)
Friday, 16 October 2009
Enter Shikari, Camden Roundhouse, Saturday 10th October 2009.
Everyone likes a bit of Enter Shikari just like everyone likes a nice clean public toilet. Luckily last Saturday we got both. Yes, if there's one positive thing I can say about the Roundhouse it's that it passed my toilet expectations. The venue itself wasn't so great. I prefer the dirty, dingy, smell-the-beer-and-sweat, this floor is too sticky to be healthy venues myself and it just didn't meet my standards. Fairly clean and rather ridiculousy resembling an overly echoey cave which pigeons COULD live in of they chose to, I'll give the Roundhouse a 6/10. (Note: there weren't really pigeons living there).
Onto the music then. First support came from True Tiger; a band described on their myspace as Garage/Grime/Hip Hop although the general phrase passing round that evening was 'S***'. Their set involved a mosh pit which appeared to involve more beatings, tramplings and just general physical abuse rather than actual moshing, a sit down protest when the crowd got bored, a never-ending stream of glowsticks being thrown towards the stage and to top it all, True Tiger were finally asked to leave the stage amidst a chanting chorus of "OFF! OFF! OFF!" from the crowd. I think they suffered worse than anyone in the mosh pit that night. But let me ponder why... Were they really that bad? To be honest, yes they were. Their music sounded like one continuous, half an hour long beat with a little man onstage shouting 'Put your hands up!' which people mostly chose to ignore. 32/100. (The 32 comes from sheer effort). http://www.myspace.com/truetigerrecordings
Next up were The Devil Wears Prada. You can guess from the fact that the crowd allowed them to play a WHOLE set without being booed offstage that they weren't that bad. In fact, a lot of the crowd seemed to be partially there to see them. Standing at the back of the venue for this set due to a bad stomach ache and energy loss (revived by some Red Bull and pain killers) I got a pretty good look at the crowd's reaction. Mosh pits galore, what looked like some nasty injuries and a whole lot of screaming... they played their set well. Not exactly my cup of tea (for I do not drink tea) they didn't have enough structure for me and sounded a bit all over the place but on the few occasions that they did pull themselves together I can see why half the crowd were going mental in the pits. 50/100. Don't be offended by the 50 if you are a fan, I predict they'll get better. http://www.myspace.com/tdwp
The lights dim, there's a huge crowd rush towards the stage, people are crushed, people are bruised and Enter Shikari take to the stage to Common Dreads. "Here tonight I clock a thousand heads. Here to unite through Common Dreads!" and then as Solidarity begins, the whole place explodes. (I'll give you some advice here: Don't worry if you get split up from your buddies, if you enjoy the music you'll have a good time anyway!) nd so I did. Being on the barrier can be quite a predicament, especially when Enter Shikari decide to play songs such as Zzzonked, No Sleep Tonight and The Feast which they did. Bring on the sweaty crowd! Crowd pleasers also included an excellently played Gap In The Fence in which a deafening chorus of WOAH's issued from the crowd, Havoc B and of course Hectic as well as old favourites Mothership, Labyrinth, Sorry, You're Not A Winner and OK, Time For Plan B. However, the definite stand out of the night was obviously The Jester. During this one song about three different mosh pits ensued, covering practically most of the ground floor with about 50 people in the biggest one. It all got a little bit chaotic and because I still had my glowsticks I decided to have a mini rave in the middle of a BIG mosh pit. That might explain why I have a huge bruise covering my shin... An encore also followed opening with the crazy Juggernauts which led to a number of crowdsurfers looking half dead with exhaustion falling on people's heads. Anyway, to conclude Enter Shikari played as usual with their never ending energy, humour and talent. It was a VERY good set. 77/100. http://www.myspace.com/entershikari
For some actual 'professional' footage (ie. Rory with a camera) check out this link.
NOTE; Gemma's ratings;
Venue: 7/10 due to their very good paramedic service :)
True Tiger: 25/100
Devil Wears Prada: 65/100
Enter Shikari: 85/100
Onto the music then. First support came from True Tiger; a band described on their myspace as Garage/Grime/Hip Hop although the general phrase passing round that evening was 'S***'. Their set involved a mosh pit which appeared to involve more beatings, tramplings and just general physical abuse rather than actual moshing, a sit down protest when the crowd got bored, a never-ending stream of glowsticks being thrown towards the stage and to top it all, True Tiger were finally asked to leave the stage amidst a chanting chorus of "OFF! OFF! OFF!" from the crowd. I think they suffered worse than anyone in the mosh pit that night. But let me ponder why... Were they really that bad? To be honest, yes they were. Their music sounded like one continuous, half an hour long beat with a little man onstage shouting 'Put your hands up!' which people mostly chose to ignore. 32/100. (The 32 comes from sheer effort). http://www.myspace.com/truetigerrecordings
Next up were The Devil Wears Prada. You can guess from the fact that the crowd allowed them to play a WHOLE set without being booed offstage that they weren't that bad. In fact, a lot of the crowd seemed to be partially there to see them. Standing at the back of the venue for this set due to a bad stomach ache and energy loss (revived by some Red Bull and pain killers) I got a pretty good look at the crowd's reaction. Mosh pits galore, what looked like some nasty injuries and a whole lot of screaming... they played their set well. Not exactly my cup of tea (for I do not drink tea) they didn't have enough structure for me and sounded a bit all over the place but on the few occasions that they did pull themselves together I can see why half the crowd were going mental in the pits. 50/100. Don't be offended by the 50 if you are a fan, I predict they'll get better. http://www.myspace.com/tdwp
The lights dim, there's a huge crowd rush towards the stage, people are crushed, people are bruised and Enter Shikari take to the stage to Common Dreads. "Here tonight I clock a thousand heads. Here to unite through Common Dreads!" and then as Solidarity begins, the whole place explodes. (I'll give you some advice here: Don't worry if you get split up from your buddies, if you enjoy the music you'll have a good time anyway!) nd so I did. Being on the barrier can be quite a predicament, especially when Enter Shikari decide to play songs such as Zzzonked, No Sleep Tonight and The Feast which they did. Bring on the sweaty crowd! Crowd pleasers also included an excellently played Gap In The Fence in which a deafening chorus of WOAH's issued from the crowd, Havoc B and of course Hectic as well as old favourites Mothership, Labyrinth, Sorry, You're Not A Winner and OK, Time For Plan B. However, the definite stand out of the night was obviously The Jester. During this one song about three different mosh pits ensued, covering practically most of the ground floor with about 50 people in the biggest one. It all got a little bit chaotic and because I still had my glowsticks I decided to have a mini rave in the middle of a BIG mosh pit. That might explain why I have a huge bruise covering my shin... An encore also followed opening with the crazy Juggernauts which led to a number of crowdsurfers looking half dead with exhaustion falling on people's heads. Anyway, to conclude Enter Shikari played as usual with their never ending energy, humour and talent. It was a VERY good set. 77/100. http://www.myspace.com/entershikari
For some actual 'professional' footage (ie. Rory with a camera) check out this link.
NOTE; Gemma's ratings;
Venue: 7/10 due to their very good paramedic service :)
True Tiger: 25/100
Devil Wears Prada: 65/100
Enter Shikari: 85/100
Howdy All...
Right, so this is how this blog works...
Gemma and myself will be attending all the best gigs throughout the year. Whether it's just one of us or both of us, we'll be bringing back tales and photos right from the crowd. Let's be honest, although we're not exactly professionals we are fans and that's the important part.
Anyway, once we've recovered we'll be posting up the photos along with a review of the venue, crowd and of course the music. Marks out of 10 will be given to the venue while marks out of 100 will be given to each band that plays a set [supports included] because I like to be detailed.
Feel free to leave comments.
Holly and Gemma.
Gemma and myself will be attending all the best gigs throughout the year. Whether it's just one of us or both of us, we'll be bringing back tales and photos right from the crowd. Let's be honest, although we're not exactly professionals we are fans and that's the important part.
Anyway, once we've recovered we'll be posting up the photos along with a review of the venue, crowd and of course the music. Marks out of 10 will be given to the venue while marks out of 100 will be given to each band that plays a set [supports included] because I like to be detailed.
Feel free to leave comments.
Holly and Gemma.
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