January 30, 2005
End To Reason, featuring members from Spoonfed (RIP), started the night off with melodic yet brutal hardcore, with a sound not too distant from The Blueprint, but with itÂ’s own individual touch. The bass took the prominent roll in the strings department, with simple structured, rolling guitar created a barrage of sound that unfortunately continued without variation. However, this didnÂ’t taint the performance, as it was masked by the flowing and sonorous backline. The drummer helped to generate the constant building and hart-hitting sound, but due to a lack of variation in tempo, gave a very similar feel to each song. The frontman used strong, angry vocals to voice a general political message in the lyrics. It was a perfected and well-executed performance, with a short set time, they seemed to just motor through it, barely stopping for breath between tracks.
Mame changed the atmosphere a little, by bringing American influenced melodic grunge rock to the stage. Comprising of two guitars playing progressively in unison, creating powerful sections to contradict the subtle ones. The lead guitarist showed great use of technique in style, even bringing out a mandolin at one point. He seemed to have a bit of difficulty getting settled, and continuously messed around with wires, dials, and pedals to achieve a desired sound. The bass was really quiet, and you had to concentrate to hear it above the guitars. The drums provided a steady base for the sound, while still incorporating some impressive fills. The frontman played simple, fitting guitar, during the clear powerful vocal sections, but displayed more intricate pieces instrumental interludes. Their long, structured songs, gave the feel of Pearl Jam meets Creed with a British twist.
Army Of Flying Robots began their set with a progressively spiralling stoner rock intro, which promptly did a complete U-turn and switched into a brutal conurbation of noise. The deep, repetitive roars of a vocalist could be heard, but he couldnÂ’t be seen. Eventually we figured it out, and at the end of the mic cable was the frontman, at the front of the crowd, facing his band. This left the stage free for the band to move around, which sadly they didnÂ’t, with the exception of one guitarist who occasionally stepped up to pelt out backing vocals as savage as the lead. Although the explosive lead vocals were fitting to the music, they lacked any sort of variation. One vocal spasm after another, never changing tone, which is ok for so long, but starts to become the equivalent of turning up the amp and plucking one guitar string throughout the whole set. Luckily the guitars were awesome to listen to, with powerful, complicated and well-executed riffs, which gave the set variation from song to song. The drums were a relentless and repetitive wall of noise that aided the onslaught of Army Of Flying RobotsÂ’ set.
The absence of mic stands confirmed the arrival of Legion Of Doom to the stage. Consisting of two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer, they do all their talking with their playing. Spreading themselves across a variety of styles, ranging from storming metal to immense progÂ’ rock. A lack of singer meant that all three upstanding members had the freedom of the stage, and they used it to their advantage, plus anything else they could climb on. Tripping over wires and equipment, as well as playing each otherÂ’s guitars whenever they saw fit. They continuously spewed out complex, intricate, progressive tunes, which basically seemed like one epic and perfect jamming session. The drummer kept them on the case though, and prevented them from heedlessly straying off. All taking turns to throw in a solo or display some flashy fret work. A mighty effects board was put to good use as the music changed again and again. The whole performance was extremely lively but so casually done, with little, if any pause between tracks.
After singing happy birthday to us all, all female band The Smears proceeded to go straight into fast, power-chord punk with a general feel-good and ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude. The bass sounded a little messy, but accompanied the rest of the sound well, and the impressive drums incorporated plenty of fills. The guitarist and vocalist had a good clear voice, constantly using different expression and didn’t have that piercing, monotonous wail that so often occurs with most female fronted acts. It was a confident, tight and well-rehearsed performance, although all songs had pretty much the same mood, tempo, and structure to them. They were musically, about as punk as you could get.
Sanzen were up next with an immediately apparent System Of A Down meets Killswitch Engage influenced metal. The lyrics were very unclear, but the frontman used his voice brilliantly, with a deep, aggressive, throaty scream, parted by powerful and appropriate singing sections, making up interesting vocal patterns. Both guitars playing in unison gave a thick, powerful continuous layer to the music. When lead guitar was used, the riffs were impressive and complex. Unfortunately, the bassist couldnÂ’t be heard over the pounding drums and thrashing guitars. There were no noticeable mistakes in the complex and original drumming. As enjoyable as the band were, and as energetic as the set was, each song sounded the same and never seemed as though they were getting anywhere.
Headlining tonightÂ’s event, were established Nottingham band Old Basford bringing soul/blues/funk rock with an occasional metal touch, for us all to mellow out to. These guys looked and sounded so suave, I mean, how many bands could boast a guy on maracas and tambourine, and still sound like James Hetfield stoned in jazz club. The vocals were stunningly varied and expressive, and the harmonies consistently maintained the same quality. The funky basslines contradicted the grungy guitar very well. The drums were simple but effective, and the drummer used the kit to itÂ’s full potential. This created the full sound that couldÂ’ve been left out due to the lack of a second guitar. Old BasfordÂ’s performance is certainly an experienced and refined one, never showing any signs of mistake or any slip in confidence. Their music style is original, smooth and most definitely cool.
Written By Steph
Photos ~ Glynn
