July 14, 2004
Running With Scissors set the night off with funky riffs from the amazing bassist, somehow fitting well into their brutal thrash metal style. Sounding a little like Static X and some Killswitch Engage, with passionate scream vocals from the front man. There were a few mistakes in the otherwise complex and prominent drumming, but this didn’t phase them. The lead guitar was deafening and distorted with plenty of solos. There was plenty of variation between fast and slow but unfortunately this was a little patchy and didn’t seem to flow smoothly within the song. A major problem Running With Scissors have, is being far too static, no matter how passionate you scream, if you stand still looking miserable, you completely lose that effect. The lead guitarist, despite being very talented, never looked up from his effects board. There wasn’t enough diversity between each song, which made the set hard work to listen to, with one exception. The song they ended on which was sung by the bassist, was much more melodic, beautiful, and moving. His voice was well suited to the song, sadly though it lacked a little strength, but that wouldn’t put me off wanting to hear much more off him throughout the set.
Callaghan were up next, and started off very upbeat, which continued throughout the set, broken up in parts by much more chilled out, easy to hear tracks. With a female singer and plenty of instruments, they had the usual bass, two guitars, drums, but also and acoustic guitar and an electric piano, which gave them a funky and not so dark Snake River Conspiracy sound to their music. The female singer was a natural on stage and they were all good performers, except for, the ‘surplus to requirements apart from the odd solo’, second guitarist, who stood there like a sculpture for the entire 30 minutes. The bassist was obviously experienced with his guitar, and the drums were bouncy, and the rhythm guitars were nice and bright. They were very well practised and pretty flawless musically, but perhaps a little boring, though they ended on a smooth and happy funk song that make you head nod.
Pressure were well practised, loud, in your face guitars, fast, simple drums with an infectious rhythm, well structured flowing bass lines from the bassist who played his instrument like a six string, and a saxophone. However the poor female sax player couldn’t be heard because she was drowned out by guitar distortion, except for the odd blast, but that was only when you really listened for it. This was a huge shame because it would have given them a much more interesting and diverse sound, and after all they are as they claim, sax-rock.
Aside from the thrashing riffs, there was a smattering of fast, energetic guitar solos beefed up with plenty Wah, which is always a good thing. The frontman and the bassist made good use of the stage, with plenty of energetic movement, and the frontman having a wireless instead of a lead gave him much more freedom to run around. Did I mention energetic?
They definitely make themselves memorable, bombarding the stage and the colour spectrum with red and black, this adds to their stage performance and makes them easy to spot from more than a mile off.
Pressure spat out hectic song after hectic song, it would be a welcome refreshment to have something a little easier on the ears and on the old sweat glands, and so having a little variation in tempo between songs wouldn’t go amiss. Similar in sound to that of Ash, obviously plus a saxophone, these guys have that new British rock sound that leaves you breathless and proud of it.
Almost forgot to comment on the fucking awesome slap bass in the last song, bangin!
Slotting somewhere between old skool and new age punk, with slice of glam rock image, New Generation Superstars boasted short stomping songs, jam packed with simple, loud and punkish drumming, and rolling messy riffs that get you moving, but ended up becoming an ear shattering distorted untidy heap at some points, only to get back on track and end with a flourish. The Buzzcocks, and perhaps for the more modern edge, Guttermouth influenced. Apart from the brazenly charismatic frontman, the rest of the band showed very little stage presence, hardly ever looking at the crowd. Having said this, the set was entertaining and kept your attention throughout, with plenty variation, and each song having a different feel and mood to it. They worked together very well onstage, but as individual musicians, they weren’t much to write home about, although the style of music didn’t demand much from the guitarists, we were constantly waiting for the bassist to impress, but I guess he just ran out of time.
So the second heat was much closer this time round, with no obvious winners, and in the end it was Runnning With Scissors that won the vote, and head off into the semis. To see more pictures from this gig click here Review ~ Steph Photos ~ Andy ‘Pyro’ Butler
Written By Steph
Photos ~ Andy
