Santa Slaughter Tour – Eddies Friday 16th December 2009
Eddies is the new home to the former Edwards Number 8 Club which before being destroyed by fire, was once a haven for all brummies seeking something a little less mainstream and an alternative to the Academy. After trying out a few venues Eddies has settled in this off the track venue which is essentially a glorified social club whose walls have been painted black and pictures of Pinhead and Marilyn Manson decorate the walls. It’s a bit of an odd venue – the room had no stage and so the bands were set up on one edge of the central square dance floor with a couple of low tables acting as barriers.
The first band on were Brutality Will Prevail. I didn’t not like thembut they seemed to be pretty standard hardcore act. They were a good opener and set the tone for tonights line up which was probably a little too hardcore for my personal taste.
The second band on the bill were This Is Colour, who on first impressions seemed to be a your usual hardcore band but as they played it was clear that these guys have called upon a variety of influences and highlighted their expected heavy sections with well placed lighter instrumentals. This added an extra dimension to the songs and made them more listenable. The vocals literally did the talking for this band, they were at the front of the mix and were comprised of nearly all screaming but luckily the rest of the band took the edge off the abrasive noise.
The Eyes of A Traitor managed to wake the crowd up a little and they gave everything you’d expect from a hardcore band – a lot of bass and a lot of screaming. The lack of stage meant that the band were free to roam around the dance floor and vocalist Jack Delany certainly used the space and tried to whip the crowd up. The weren’t the most exciting band I’ve ever seen but I can see why people like them.
By the time Your Demise come on the room has filled up with hair straightened within an inch of it’s life and stretches aplenty and the kids were getting
lary. Arms were flailing everywhere and the room had more windmills in it than Holland. I step back to avoid a beating and lose track of the band who are somewhere in this mass of bodies. The bass was heavy and my ears felt angry at me for not wearing protectors. The low ceiling was savagely ripped apart by air punches and falling ceiling tiles add extra drama to what could be confused as some kind of battle scene. It was like the room had woken up and everyone knew the words to the incomprehensible screaming and had remembered why they came to the gig in the first place. Upsettingly Your Demise only played for 25 minutes and whilst I’m not the biggest hardcore fan, I would have liked a little more. I definitely recommend them to anyone who is a fan of this genre.
Libby