*THIS GIG WAS ACTUALLY AT THE MUMBO ARTS CENTRE*
Those who have never been the the Mumbo Arts Centre in Manchester may think it’s a bit of a strange venue. It doubles up as a inner-city community centre and kids are always coming through the gig to hang out or go to a community class or something. It’s also known for having poor sound, and sadly for the first three bands this is no different tonight.
Opening up the night was OF NOBLE BLOOD who were already a good way into their set by the time we arrived. They played old school hardcore, youth crew in style, and to be honest I can’t really remember much about them. They sounded good at the time, but obviously didn’t have an impact like other bands who play a similar style have had.
I really like THE LEGACY. This is the 3rd lineup I’ve seen because they changed their guitarist, and then added a 2nd guitarist to bump up their sound. They play old school melodic hardcore in the vein of Chain of Strength or Turning Point but they aren’t just plagiarising their influences like too many hardcore bands seem to do. Tonight wasn’t the best time I’ve seen them. The energy was certainly there, but something was lacking. Technical difficulties with the Bass and general poor sound probably didn’t help at all. They have an EP out soon on Dead and Gone, I’ve heard one track from it and it’s a definite improvement on their demo for sure.
The whole “Metalcore” genre has really taken off over the last year or so, even infiltrating the mainstream with the more watered-down bands who could be classed to play the style. Leeds band D-RAIL are a talented bunch, the guitarist (who has been seen playing with Beecher too) has some of the best metal licks I’ve ever heard. At times d-rail hang onto a chaotic noisy edge, and at other times they turn up the melody and your foot doesn’t stop tapping. I really am surprised these guys haven’t had some attention from mainstream magazines because they certainly have the songs to demand attention. Fans of bands like Funeral For A Friend and Hondo McClean take note: This is the real thing.
For those who haven’t heard them, Canadian band COMEBACK KID take a lot of their sound from new school hardcore, in particular Bane circa “It All Comes Down To This”. They take a lot of that aggression but mix it with a hell of a lot more melody with some great guitar lines.
As I mentioned, the Mumbo doubles up as a community centre and there was this MC guy introducing the band – “yeah, yeah, here for the comeback kid yeah?” – “comeback kid yeah?” – to the background music of some building drums and wall of guitars. Everyone cheered, the vocalist of Comeback Kid finally got his mic back and we were ready. Kicking the set off with my personal favourite “All In A Year” they threw themselves into an energetic set which seemed to see them playing most of their album. There were plenty of sing-a-longs, group pile-ons and breakdowns for some dancing, all you could want from a hardcore band on a Tuesday night. They were one of the tightest hardcore bands I’ve seen in some time, and the sound was surprisingly good. I’m not sure how many dates they have left on their tour, but check them out because everyone I’ve spoken to seems to think that they were a great live band.