Ok, so you may be able to make a sentence out of "not just pot a kettle drug calling the is but also black". Good luck. Yeah, so through basically there being nothing I wanted to see and me being a lazy apathetic hypocritical bastard, this is me first gig in about 3 weeks since a sold out Slayer gig at Rock City. And now I'm probably about to be condescending about the lack of people and interest blah di blah. Oh what a virtue it is to be a hypocrite.
Vacant Stare are first. First thing that strikes me is "oh, this is a good sign, there's people upstairs for the first band". The second is "this band don't really do much for me from what I've heard on various CD compilations." But, they've received a lot of positive reaction to those appearances, and in some ways it's easy to see why. They've got the moves, the singer leaps from stage to side pod and back, there's a DJ in there to add a little more flavour. But for me, well, better live, but still devoid of anything to really inspire me. Join the conveyor belt, it's moving quite smoothly. Interesting song titles - ok, I forget quickly, but there was "this is from next months Metal Hammer CD" and the best track they played was "this is dedicated to earthtone9 for putting us up last night".
Shortly before the set started, Jim, the new Dai Lo guitarist is wandering towards the toilets muttering something about "quaking" and "soiling underwear". Or something like that. It's his first gig with the band. I think he's a bit nervous. Ultimately there was no real need to be. Ever noticed how those lazy wankers that write reviews fall back on easy obvious cliches. Nottingham's finest would be one here, if it wasn't for the fact that you've got a whole bunch of them. Pitchshifter, Dai Lo, earthtone9, Black Rock. So, er Nottingham's finest Dai Lo hit in with a 5 song mini-set. The first four are run through old favourites Twist The Knife, Moths, Target and Warhead. Jim looks a little nervous, but at the same time, plays it well. Shaun is his usual self, crouching all over the place and firing off comments at the speed of life. There's more of a cutting metal tone to the guitar, but it sounds like he's fitting in nicely. They finish the set with a new song, a simple riff, but it grooves and seems to bode well for the future.
And so on to Nottingham's finest earthtone9. Actually, that's probably unfair on both sides. I'm not sure that there's anyone in the band actually from Nottingham, they just happen to be located here, and Nottingham doesn't really appear to be ready to embrace them as being one of their own. You could argue the logic to this tour. They've already put in the groundwork, and with a cracking new album in the bag ready for October there could be seen to be too many gigs going on. Whatever the reasons, tongiht from a performance perspective, and of course audience perspective, isn't their best. They're battling against the sound, with both Joe and latest bassist Jamie taking turns to look at each other and then the amps, and Karl seemingly unhappy with the monitor. In fact Karl, normally looks like he's about to snap the mike stand in half is instead gently caressing it tongiht. The songs can't be faulted, although playing about 6 new tracks from the forthcoming album means it's likely to go over the heads of everyone. But Tat Twam Asi, Alpha Hi, Approx Purified, Star Damage (for beginers), Evil Crawling I and the awesome P.R.D Chaos are great songs, taking them on to the next level. They throw in a few oldies, Grind & Click and I Nagual Eye, but honours tonight are with Dai Lo.