Right, a little mini tour extravaganza. It's sometimes too hard to write something different about each gig that you see, when you see the same gigs a few times. So instead a collective review of the gigs. It'll make sense later. Trust me.
So, first stop, Dudley. First time there for me. Bigger place than I expected, which meant the Psycore had the task of playing to a largely disinterested gathering of people. The music was ok, but only the single, Medication and the final track really grabbed. Why do bands have a habit of keeping their best stuff (and sometimes fastest, though that doesn't mean fast = good) until last. By then the damage is sometimes done.
Will Haven. Dudley. Activity picked up for the appearance of Will Haven, who seem to just do their thing regardless anyway. The real revelation on this tour was the Bradford gig, where the place seemed totally into it. Plenty of stage divers, maybe too many for the bands liking. Prompted Grady to say the first words I've ever heard him say on stage. But it all seemed to make so much more snese. The intensity. Before the Dudley gig, a certain duo had given Grady a copy of the zine, which just happened to contain my review of the Deftones / WH gig. And not a great review of WH. To make things worse, they then dragged me over to say "this is the guy that wrote it". Nice one. Cheers. Still, it did mean that a small interview was done before the Bradford gig. Watch for it in a future zine.
Tura Satana. My comments will come later. I've got a seminar to go to, and I'm tired. Later. Honest. Later.
Back now. Still tired, but still, lets get this done. So Tura Satana. Best night I saw was Bradford. Things seem to gell there. Tarrie was on top form on all the dates, challenging people everytime. Dudley was due to someone spitting at her, Bradford some guy said to "slap the bitch" so she drags him onstage, warns all the ladies present that he's the guy not to go out with, puts an elastoplast with the word cunt on his forehead, and pushes him back into the crowd. Nottingham, well, she just hits some guy on the bonce with the microphone that had spat or thrown beer at her. Before apologising later. Typical Tarrie it seems.
The band seem tight and relaxed. I can't say they're better than when Scott was in the band, as I never saw them then, but the famed tension doesn't appear to be too bad. New track Sycophant seems to indicate that the next album should be pretty good.
The rest of the set focuses mainly on the Relief album, but also dips it's toes back into the All is not Well album.
Before the Nottingham gig, I did an interview which will appear in a future edition of the zine. Featuring Brian, Marcello, and the occasional words of Tarrie, it should be good. At least when it's typed up. But that's for later.