Been a while since I did a gig review, right? Why not now? Such lineup! Much polyrhythm. Wow!
So. To Corp I went, upon that cold and windy night, for an evening of curled moustaches, high vocals, and Axe FX preamps. We're in the big room today, and I'm right up the front with a great view of the stage.
First up we have Intervals, a formerly-instrumental band from Canada. I'm peripherally familiar with their work, mostly through a musician mate from America, and expected some serious noodling and complicated rhythms. Recently, their vocalist also took up vocal duties, and so there's no on-stage bass. Presumably this came through their backing tracks, which was a bit of a shame but overall understandable. Their music isn't simple at all. I feel they'll be one to watch.
Next up, The Safety Fire, who I know nothing of other than they were on a gameshow. We have our first villainous facial hair here, and some London banter. One, two. You can normally tell how hard a band will play by the state of the cymbals, and here was a Holy China that was flapping about like a hooker walking the streets. The drummer smanged it so hard, in fact, that a good three inch length of the flange broke off. DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO DO THAT? Their performance was convincing, although being so close to the front meant most of what I heard was bass, drums and vocals, so again, a band I should put some time into and maybe buy some CDs off of.
TesseracT, then. A previous review will show that I have a great love of Altered State, and though I've seen them live before, this will be my first time seeing them and knowing the songs. And we get some relatively predictable choices, much like when I saw them last may, in Of Matter (the full 3-movement suite), Of Mind I: Nocturne and Of Energy I: Singularity, as well as a few tracks from Concealing Fate. Tight as always, there's no cock ups here, other than a dropped monitor, prompting a very audible 'ASHE!' from the stage. I realise now as well that Mr Williams reminds me somewhat of Gaston what with his shirt all open like that. Ahem.
Protest The Hero are unfortunately beset with some technical issues this evening. Arif's bass head dies, leading to some amusing banter between band and crowd. There are frequent pauses between songs, allowing for some further crowd interaction, much to the amusement of everyone involved. It looks like Canada doesn't get the very British 'youi' sound, although they do get 'blech'. The band rip through the set, which is predictably fast, fun and a lark to watch. I don't know if he's been practicing but Arif has definitely got the Sheffield Two Step down to a tee. The only disappointment for me was no Without Prejudice, but the rest of the set was good enough that it's a minor quibble.
I had some serious fun last night. And with live music, that's easily the most important thing for me.
