January 21, 2005
Starting the night a little shakily, Johnny No Stars gave us a messy introduction to their set, but as the first song went on, they gathered themselves, bringing loud, powerful riffs with impressive and intricate overlying lead. Their mistakes didnÂ’t seem to deter them, and they continued with their hard punk rock. The drumming was pretty much flawless, and they certainly werenÂ’t without musical talent, the bass came through the sound really well, and one particular instrumental section utilised the effects board brilliantly. Although the vocal patterns were a little bland throughout, overall Johnny No Stars provided a varied performance, with each song holding itÂ’s own among the rest.
Three-piece band, Cellar Door were next up. Immediately the busy and powerful drums hit you. They had a Creed sort of sound with lengthy varied songs, some on quite a feel-good level, and some more sorrowful and passionate. The bass served to keep the songs together well as the lone guitar drifted in and out of the lead and rhythm roles, displaying some awesome technique and use of effects. With originally structured songs, there was no ‘verse-chorus-verse’ thing going on. The vocals were gruff, yet expressive and occasionally quite hypnotic. The long, instrumental outros to most of their songs were impressive. Cellar Door’s performance seemed so relaxed and natural, while still remaining tight and professional.
When Polaris took the stage, we were launched straight into majestic power metal. Each song was an explosion of jaw-dropping technique creating fast, but diverse and extremely complex thrash metal, with a hint of 1980Â’s roots. The aggressive vocals were lost a little in the noise. Plenty of tempo changes and different sections within the songs, plus the bass and the two guitars worked off each other really well. This went together to create one of the most interesting and contrasting hard metal bands IÂ’ve seen in Nottingham. Unfortunately, their slot ended slightly prematurely, when at the start of the last song, one of the guitarists snapped a string, then ingenuity went out of the window, and the set finished.
Next were Cerebral Vacation, with their aggressive nu-metal/hardcore, ranging to stoner-rock sound.
There were frequent sections of both guitars playing in unison with each other, other times the guitar work along with the drums, was very experimental, and the rolling basslines were meticulous and distinctive.
The strong vocals were full of expression, and switched between the frontman and bassist, showing flexibility. This expression was used appropriately to bring interesting vocal patterns.
Every song sounded a little too similar for there to be any particular one that grasped attention, but don’t get me wrong, they all rocked, and the whole set did the job of attracting interest. For the first half anyway, but part way through, attention was directed towardsthe ever-approaching pit. What started out as a small and contained one, soon turned into a rather bizarre, circus, wrestling match, pile of bodies, involving about 15 people. A cautious eye fell upon my drink.
Female fronted indie band, Patchwork Grace were the headline act. They started out sounding very clean cut, with pleasant vocal patterns, and some great technique by the guitarist. As the set went on however, the stand in bassist was on and off the stage as he re-tuned, playing bass for the songs the singer didn’t. They belted out a cover of The Cranberries – Zombie, which they did justice, and the set gradually built up to a more aggressive, trashy sound.
Overall, the vocals were quite bland, although there were plenty of volume changes, they were monotonous and rushed at points, perhaps not giving off the desired effect.
Their performance was a polished one, and they managed very well under bass player circumstances, showing no sign of mistakes, and playing a widely varying set without incident.
To see more phots from this gig click here Review – Steph Photos – Glynn
Written By Steph
Photos ~ Glynn
