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Gig Reviews

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Sean's Garage- 5th Janurary 2K

Derangement - Don't Go - Foco - Detour - Reptile - Disturbia - Beware of the Dog - Face - Killing In The Name - Kentucky Fried Bigot - Poison - Submission - Fairway

So, the lads have gone into the realm of fan only gigs?

This performance was set for 3 reasons. Firstly, to welcome in the new cash in from the Government, secondly to treat the fans to some new material, and finally to bed in the new recruits. And bed in they certainly did.

The first sign of life was Erik triggering a drum loop from his set-up to the side of the stage, as Sean took up the the beat with some complementing guitar strumming, as the rest of the band took to the stage preparing for what was to follow. And follow it did.

When they appeared, there was something different looking about them. Sean, Jim-Bob and P-Lo looked the same as usual, Sharky could be placed to a new hairstyle, but what the hell had happened to Ad? Hair now straight, died dark brown with some blonde highlights, and a (possibly) designer muscle top on? We can see where he used his part of the advance...

Then, the music. Derangement literally ripped from the speakers so cleanly the first few rows were sent flying, the samples flying out as if they had been joined from birth, and a bass line so heavy the it shook ribcages throughout. Following that, another newie, Don't Go, also found it's way into the set list. This time, rather than ripping out the jugular, it gets inside your head, under your skin, and haunts you until something else can save you. Their most mature work yet, and Sharky has never sounded in such fine voice.

At the mercy of the fans, the ever reliable Foco snapped them out of their cold sweats, causing the place to sway from looking terrified to going apeshit within 5 minutes. On stage the band were the same, Sharky pacing around, P-Lo jumping as high as he can stand and Sean performing origami on himself.

Detour follows just as smoothly, linking into a cover of Reptile without anyone noticing the join until the guitars jarred in. Disturbia was aired and was taking shape, far improved from the last time it was aired, and Beware of the Dog kicked off the mosh pit again. And to add extra insult to the injuries the sound system was feeling, Face slammed through next at a neck-cracking pace.

Then another cover, Killing In The Name sent the whole garage into a frenzy, people piling on top of each other and diving off the stage and speaker stacks faster than a colony of horny lemmings on LSD. If RATM saw this, they'd change their set list, it was that powerful. The stage was still clearing up during Kentucky Fried Bigot, someone even dived off the stage during the break. The walls were sweating and it was so hot in there the doors had to be opened to cool it down. The whole neighbourhood was exposed to their now legendary cover of Poison, people were arriving to find out what was going on, thinking the apocalypse had arrived 5 days late. It had, Submission promptly crashed out of the PA, driving away the weaker-hearted neighbours, but the fans were slamming into everything, including trees in the front garden. To save the local horticulture Fairway wrapped up, as ever, to rapturous cheers. The new boys, especially Erik, had settled in with no problems whatsoever, and a new level had been reached. HMV has been warned...

Some God awful club just off Tottenham Court Road - 23rd August 1999

Welcome - Foco - Detour - Disturbia - Gringo - Hit A Curve - Beware of the Dog - Kentucky Fried Bigot - Civilisation v2.7 - Face - Fairway

Due to asshole club manager, the set had to be trimmed down a bit as it was going to be 80's Dance Nite after 11pm, and they only arrived and soundchecked around 8, since no-one told them. However, doesn't mean that new material not yet recorded can be tested, does it?

So, on came the lads to the theme tune from The Shining (YUS!), although edited a bit with some scratching thrown in before they started. Still got those weird noises in, though...

This trend was shown straight off when Welcome hit the air. A funky bassline and some genius guitar work built up a lot of bouncing, and Paolo's rapping was a welcome, if unexpected, surprise. After such a pleasing start, Foco could only build on the vibe created, and the way the 2 linked was also rather surprising.

After Detour got things back to normal, another newie, Disturbia came, but needs a bit more work. However, the lyrics were top notch, only the track is too much of a gloom trip, not the horror angle thay were looking for.

Kentucky Fried Bigot also failed to connect, this mostly due to the PA fucking up royally, so it wasn't as schizophrenic as it should be, the trip-hop bit was lost in the mix, the death metal break sludged beyond recognition, and the hip-hop ending was again lost in the mix. Shame, it usually pleases crowds who don't have a clue what's going to happen next.

After Sean's extreme rant at the Sound Dept., Civilisation v2.7 came along, although it wasn't played to full capacity due to the previous problems. We'll have to wait for a better club before hearing this one in full. But Face didn't have these problems, pounded through the PA as if it was a punishment, sounding like Biohazard jamming with Atari Teenage Riot, it really impressed those not running for cover. Then to bring the show to a close, the ever anthemic Fairway brought the intensity down, but the precision with which it was played, yet still managing to sound like a loose jam, brought this gig to a satisfying conclusion, with arms waving in the air to the back of the club.

Now they're planning to do a brief tour with Windex, the Beastie Boys/Korn/House of Pain influenced 8-piece they played with back in Febuary (the headliners, Cujo, sucked, BTW). I'll keep you posted on developments.

Rock Garden, Covent Garden, London - 6th July 1999

Ripper - Ignition - Gringo - Foco - Compound Fracture - Vertibrae - Detour - Hit a Curve - Calibration - Beware of the Dog - Kentucky Fried Bigot - New Taste Sensation - Fairway

First gig in a wee while from the lads, and also the first at a recognised venue. Are they coming along nicely at the time being or what?

Anyway, they hit the stage to the opening theme of Psycho (or, to be more accurate, strolled on), before the Pitchshifter sample indicated that the pure adrenalin rush that is Ripper would open proceedings, and they tore into it at a rate of knots not seen since the last time the land speed record was broken, and Jim-Bob nearly broke his kit pounding out the rhythm. After that 2.37 blast (shorter than the demo version by over a minute), the shock of the assault was there to be seen on the faces of the crowd. Well, the ones who gave a shit, but I'll get to them later.

The intensity went up a few notches when Foco was aired, the crowd started bounding around with complete disregard to their own personal safety, followed by Paolo flinging himself into the pit halfway through and still managing to play (just...) whilst being mobbed, with the rest of the band looking on bemused. Well, there were a lot of the hardcore fans present, as well as converts, bored indie kids (what the fuck were they doing there?) as well as a bunch of assholes who were only there because they wanted a fight for their £5 to go with the cheap (and nasty) beer.

By the time they reached the Reptile-esque Detour, without even stopping for breath, there was no way that they could blow this gig, even if they suddenly did Backstreet Boys covers. They did pause afterwards though, beer break. Then they were off again.

Other highlights were Beware of the Dog rumbling along like the kind of tune Ministry should have done on their last album, and the stage promptly filled up with fans who were clearly wanting to take a piece of the band home with them.

However, remember the aforemeantioned assholes? Well, at this time, they suddenly found several empty beercans and lobbed 'em stagewards. That's why I can't remember the end of the set. I took one right in the fucking head, man. The post gig reaction told me it went well, though. They were totally cleared out of the tapes they brought, and someone stole Jim-Bob's shirt clean off him.

If any of them are reading this, FUCK YOU!!! In the ass, with a blunt root vegatable.

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