The room looks kinda scattered and empty when Oathbreaker hit the stage. Probably also cause they start earlier than scheduled and half the crowd isn’t even at the venue just then.
Oathbreaker’s dooming and haunting sound doesn’t speak to everybody, though most of the crowd at least encourages them during the set, applauds, taps along and cheers for them, despite their difficulties with their tune. Say what you want about them, but their outro is huge. The atmosphere they have created before with the vocalist’s demonic screams, the dark rhythm and riffs and thundering drums, get to a highlight then and end with a massive bang.
Literally.
Trust me when I say that this is something you probably need to experience for yourself to be able to properly understand what’s actually going on.
Hundredth draw in a more ‘punk-hardcore’ kind of crowd and some movement actually starts to happen pit-wise. Though, it mostly ends in ‘two-stepping’, of which I’m personally not a fan of … not at all. But to each their own.
The band has a few minor problems as they hit the stage with a proper setting of their gear, but manages to figure that out by the start of the third song.
Just like Oathbreaker, Hundredth only have a handful of songs and aren’t on for a long time. They use the time on stage well though and put their all into their set. Still, there isn’t much to set them apart from other bands in the melodic-hardcore genre. Nevertheless, an enjoyable performance and definitely to the liking of their fans. So if you dig this kinda music in general a lot, you should certainly check them out!
A longer break then takes place as the stage gest set for the ‘Motherfucking’ Cancer Bats. While their new record didn’t really impress me during the last few listens I gave it, I was more than interested to see how they were going to transition it for their live performance.
The first few songs don’t really catch on. Not with me, nor the rest of the crowd, as it is rather quiet and people mostly cram themselves into the back of the venue. Luckily though, after Liam(vocalist) calls them out, everybody moves closer to the stage and with the first notes of ‘Sorceress’ the first proper pit of the evening is set loose. Though crowd participation is still somewhere around the 40% level, the venue gets hotter by the second as the Bats rage through the rest of their set, packed with mostly their older material, such as ‘Bricks & Mortar’, ‘Road Sick’, ‘Hail Destroyer’, just to name a few. Even some of the newer songs definitely get a better image now after being played live than listened to on the record. Ace show from the Bats, as always.
As While She Sleeps break out with ‘New World Torture’, the room explodes with energy and euphoria as the Sheffield boys instantly give 110%. The pits get bigger, the chanting gets louder and the tension before every breakdown is almost unbearable. Special props to WSS’ sound guy this evening cause the whole things sounds ridiculously massive. Been a long time ever since there has been such an amazing vibe in this venue, let me tell you that. During‘Seven Hills’, Loz (vocalist) encourages everybody to crowdsurf and get the whole room even more wild than it already is. Couple of fans join the band on stage for a singalong part before they all leap back into the crowd.
WSS’ performance reminds me, power-wise and speaking of madness, of bands such as Dillinger Escape Plan. While not even half as much equipment gets destroyed during the gig and nobody gets seriously injured, especially Loz shows signs of the same kind of wildness by climbing on everything high (such as jumping into the crowd from the venue’s gallery), diving into the crowd and throwing himself around the stage like a madman.
The chants for more only stop as the house lights finally get turned on and the band has long left the stage.
With only two full length records out and having formed in 2006,WSS are on their best way up to the top. Impressing not only with some of the most creative material of this genre in a long time, but also by showing that it’s not all about looking cool and jumping in unison during such gigs, but about interaction with the crowd and releasing all your emotions into the songs, no matter how many times a week you go on stage and do the same thing.
10/10 would recommend.
Seriously though, this is so worth your money. If you don’t have your tickets yet for any of the upcoming gigs of this tour, you need to go as fast as possible and hook yourself up with a pair to experience this.
Cheerio xx
