Been a while since I've been to Rock City, and not many things change really. Though tonight it seems increasingly apparent to me that how you look is ever more important. In terms of fitting in, but also in terms of how you dance. Only if you look a certain way can you have any hope of pulling off certain dances without looking like a complete t!*t. I mean, you can't headbang with short hair, and you can't Korn dance without baggy clothes, and you can't pointy finger dance with long hair and without a wallet chain. Bit strange though later on when one of the DJs downstairs chastised someone on the dance floor for not dancing and thus taking up space. That I can understand, but having a crack at the "dumb heavy metal t-shirt" the said villains were wearing is a bit rich coming from a venue that has built it's reputation on being a rock /METAL club. Ah well, just me.
But time for One Car Pile Up. We had a rocky start together it must be said, but I'm begining to really warm to them. The elements that I criticised are actually part of their charm and what makes them the band they are. The humour and the chat with the crowd, the full on metal poses they undertake at some stage, (tonight Wes did a full on Brucie boy pose, subtle, but there while the bassist whose name I've forgotten had his tongue visibly in his cheek), and introducing one of the songs as "this is as metal as we get". But it's those songs that ultimately make or break a band, and although you can level the criticism at OCPU that theirs are not entirely original, at the end of the day, they're bloody good. Rattling off at speed, with melody and crunch nicely balanced they do what many bands are trying to do at the moment, but with much better aplomb. By the time Monster Trucks brings the set to an end, a sizeable portion of the assembled people have started dancing. Which you would expect, after all, these people are kitted out in such a way as to show their love of this sort of music. Well, as long as it's Americans playing it.
Consumed are similar. Consumed are also quite possibly the finest band of their ilk in the UK at the moment, though OCPU are pushing them. Tonight is part of bassist Baz's birthday celebrations, but it's also a chance to showcase some material from their forthcoming full length album on FatWreckChords. Yep, that label. And it sounds good, though of course one listen isn't enough to fully judge. But it's the Breakfast At Pappa's material such as Brutal Tooth, Nonsense Cone, Heavy Metal Winner and the utterly superb Stand Under Me that are the highlights. Pop punk gems with a hint of metal played with skill and rattling through the brain. The people are dancing, fun is being have. Twat Called Morris rears it's head, and things seem very very good for about 45 minutes or so. Time will tell on the new material, but for now, they've just proven themselves again. So I take it that we can assume that all those dancing tonight to both Consumed and One Car Pile Up, those in the uniform, will all be over the Vic in Derby the next time both bands play there. After all, this is the music they are so obviously fans and devotees of right. I mean, they don't look like this just to look cool in Rock City do they? Nah Dave, never. Well, ok, so next time Consumed headline the Vic, there'll be something more than 6 of us watching them for the first 3 songs or so. Jolly good.