It’s the new year, and so as always, it’s time for Kerrang to hit the road again with some of the hottest names on the music scene at the moment. With the unstoppable Biffy Clyro headlining, and a supporting cast of upcoming acts I am Ghost, The Bronx and theAUDITION, on paper it looks set to be quite an evening.
First on stage is California’s I am Ghost, supporting the release of their debut record ‘Lover’s Requiem’. It has to be said that when I heard their album, I couldn’t understand what the band were going for – whether it was meant to be along the lines of MCR, Aiden or Cradle of Filth. Unfortunately, the band’s identity crisis spreads from record to the stage, and frontman Steven Juliano looks wholly uncomfortable leading his sextet through a 40 minute set. While they are not musically bad, as a live act they fail to impress, and ultimately end up being the most forgettable act of the evening.
Despite having imbibed a serious amount of alcohol before tonight’s show (it is Guitarist Seth Johnson’s 21ts birthday after all), theAUDITION manage to pull themselves together for quite the spectacular performance. You’d expect Danny Steven’s vocals to be appalling live, but in all honesty they’re note perfect. Evidently a man who loves to a command a crowd too, he leads the Chicago fivesome through the best of ‘Controversy loves company’s’ tracks, including ‘Approach the Bench’ and ‘Lawyers’. An altogether unexpectedly tight performance.
The Bronx have been kicking around the music scene for quite a few years now, and people are finally starting to take notice of them, as their main support slot on the Kerrang! Tour proves. Unfortunately though, Birmingham Academy is wholly unimpressed by the band, and most people are just standing there looking confused. It’s a shame really as they are a quality polished product, even if the Academy’s PA system doesn’t do them justice.
And so we come to Biffy Clyro. I’m not going to sit here and tell you how dedicated a following this band have, or just how fucking brilliant their live show is, because it’s been written a thousand times before. Tonight was more of an opportunity to give their fans a preview of some of the tracks off of upcoming record ‘Puzzle’, and they all go down a storm. Most notable would be ‘Get Fucked Stud’, possibly one of the bands most straightforward tracks in recent years, which via the power of internet piracy has everyone in the room singing along to an unreleased track. Elsewhere, ‘Justboy’ keeps the old fans happy and an encore beginning with ‘Glitter and Trauma’ makes sure that no one in the room is leaving without at least one bruise. Biffy Clyro wholly deserved their headlining slot tonight, putting to shame all of the support acts, and hopefully 2007 will be the year that the world takes note of just how brilliant this band are.
Andy R