gig review
Mark Foster
wasn't much of a crowd in by then. The set started off in darkness as no one
knew where the light switches were, so for the first song all you could see
was the lead singer in a white mask dancing with a dummy, wearing an orange
boiler suit, on the dance floor. The band actually consisted of four
members, the vocalist, a guitarist, a dj/mixer and a keyboard player. The
lighting probably would have made a big difference to the set as the music
started off with an atmospheric dance beat and samples from horror movies,
building up to a crescendo with the introduction of the guitar and
keyboards. I think their style of music is best described as industrial;
techno beats with heavily distorted guitar riffs and a growly/rapping vocal
style, although probably not as hardcore as that description implies. The
music was well played and far more interesting than the usual pubs bands
I've seen of late but I believe I only saw a glimpse of what the stage show
could have been. The problem was probably due to a sober crowd and dodgy
lighting and I look forward to seeing this band again when they're playing
on top form.
Next up were the legendary Llanelli band, The Lovers of Alginoil. The
lighting had been sorted out by now and so the stage was set for a cracking
gig. The problem with the Lovers is that sometimes the myth is bigger than
the band. It's not unknown for the Lovers of Alginoil to arrive at the venue
in a stretch limo in full make-up and use a 36 piece drum kit to play to a
crowd of a few hundred fans, so when they turn up in a Citroen and play to a
crowd of a few dozen, wearing black with a normal drum kit, you feel
slightly cheated. That's just me being overly critical though, that's how
most bands play and I don't complain. The hair metal songs are still there
though, even if the hair isn't and you can't help singing along to hits such
as "to hell with the Dixons" and "playing in the fields of Vincent". The
guitar solos were as OTT as ever and the vocal extremes were, well, extreme
and this is a great band even without the usual flamboyance. It's just a
shame that the Darkness stole all the glory that is rightfully theirs.
Headlining band were Leeds hardcore punkers, John Holmes. I have to admit
that this is probably the heaviest band I've ever seen play live. They did
however play with some style, melody and professionalism so they didn't
sound as messy as local thrash metal bands, who usually think that to be
heavy, you play as fast as you can with the distortion turned up to 11. Even
a Morrissey-sympathising indie kid like myself found himself getting carried
away with their songs, unfortunately most of the crowd didn't seem as
receptive. The only people dancing were mates of the band, out on a stag
night and a Llanelli man, just back from living with the Masai Mara warriors
in Kenya for the last couple of months. The lead singer did notice this and
asked the four "judges" sitting impassively at the front of the crowd,
facing the stage, whether they'd passed this round and were they invited
back for the next show. The music finally got too much for the stag, who
collapsed on the dance floor, which started a couple of the more inebriated
members of the crowd break dancing. As the gig was now starting to get silly
I decided to join them in a glass of countreau and the night descended into
the decadence that should really have been there from the start to fully
appreciate the three bands involved.