An evening of hard edged sound was on tonights menu with 4 bands strutting their stuff and dishing some rough 'n' ready guitar riffs and bulldozing bass-lines. With a big Ska gig down the road and a dire publicity push I wondered what kind of crowd (if any) would be in attendance.

A pint, a chat and a bag of crisp and me and my good lady went upstairs to witness Under Attack dish out a power-laden performance that really set the tone for the night. The frontman left the stage and spent all his time on the dance floor and did an adequate job but just spent a tad too much time looking the other way rather than confront the audience head on. Despite this one criticism this wasn't half bad and track after track seethed with some raging musicianship that was tight, well rehearsed and listenable. Guitarist and bassist were a little too statuesque and more movement would have added to the conviction and delivery of the songs. A promising opener with room for improvement in the stagecraft department but musically very good indeed.

Next up were Rot In Hell who had a confident frontman backed by three excellent musicians who hit it off in fine style and delivered what was a great set that for some may be too short but for me was of perfect duration and execution. Music this hard needs to be explosive and to the point and not linger on and become over involved and self indulgent. Rot In Hell got up, did their bit and fucked off in no-nonsense style and with a great guitar finale that was all timed to perfection. In fact the final musical wind-down was a classic touch and shows forethought and attention to detail. Very good indeed.

I expected Fucked Up next but instead an extra bonus was thrown in with Bow and Arrow doing a brief set that technically was excellent and added a nice change to the overall night. The guitar saturated sound was mighty impressive and the only blip was that the vocals were too low and the frontman never really exploded into life which I thought would have been a nice touch. Maybe only briefly but I think a random vocal outburst would have really got the audiences attention as this sinister figure wandered throughout the paying punters. Overall though a fair performance with obvious unlimited potential.

Last but not least Fucked Up from Ontario, Canada complete with 20 stone frontman who dished out a delicious set of controlled aggression backed by an established outfit of musical maestros. Unremitting noise pollution of the highest order this 5 piece really ended the night in blazing style with a set pregnant with passion and in-yer-face venom. The crowd loved it and slammed and bammed till their hearts content and the whole set just got better and better. There are many British bands of this ilk who fancy their chances at being aggressive and full-on and are a charging quite a hefty price to play but these lot leave em' standing and I bet are half the cost. A very exciting watch with quality track after quality track Fucked Up should really have had a better crowd tonight and with good publicity one can't help but imagine the gaff rammed. Good fuckin' stuff.

Well perhaps an overdose of hardcore for one night (me being just a little punky-doo who likes his melodies and what not) but some very good bands on show that would go down an absolute storm if mixed in the middle of a different style punk gig. Definitely 4 to check out again with Fucked Up the obvious pick and Rot In Hell a close second. A fair do and a £6 a head not bad value either - no complaints.

 

review by OMD (21 May 2007)