Hastily arranged gig, with VOD taking over from Biohazard due to all the logistical nightmares following last weeks atrocities in the States. Still, there's probably a good couple of hundred people have managed to find out about the gig and show up, which is pretty impressive for such short notice.
DaiLo take to the stage, and Shaun immediately turns one of the spots away from the stage and onto the crowd, which is a little disconcerting. Not to mention bright. It's only about a 6 song set, but that's still plenty of time to impress and mess up. "He's broken the mighty Iron Cobra, that's supposed to be the best drum pedal available, first gig and he's broken it". Not only that, it's only after about 1 song. As a result, the bass seems to be pumped up to compensate. Now I like a bit of bass, actually I like a lot of bass, but this was pretty overpowering. Still, these are the things that happen, and make the beauty of the live performance. Misery Machine and Close stand out of the older songs, but it's the new tracks, whose names I've cunningly once more forgotten, that are the highlight. Punchier and more groovy, one of them features a classy classy bit of bass work. And you know what, I love a bit of bass. Oh yeah. Coming together more and more all the time. Well, apart from the mighty Iron Cobra.
Many people have been waiting aeons it seems to see VOD, as for one reason or another, they've had to postpone several attempted tours of this country. And now they're finally here, it's to not play the gigs they should've played, and to play gigs they weren't due to play, and with little to no notice. Makes you wonder really. Or maybe it doesn't, whatever floats your boat. Anyway, perhaps in this absence, there seems to have grown a bit of a reputation for the band. I have to say, I saw them once a few years back with Sick of it All, and was a little disappointed. The first couple of CDs sounded ok at the time, but they've really not taken up much residence in the CD player. And I'm a little to a lot bored of hardcore these days. It needs something special to inspire me. Which is kind of a roundabout way of saying, I can't remember any of the song titles they played.
However, it's better than I remember. The set is a mixture of old stuff, a number of tracks being introduced from the first album, and I would guess, tracks from the new album. The newer material seems a lot more rock, there's almost a stonery Panteraesque nature to some of the material. It shouldn't sit too easily with the older material, but that's more interesting and varied than I remember it to be. The crowd don't seem as full on into everything as I'd perhaps expected, but VOD don't seem to let that deter them, coming back at the end as they do to do a couple of tracks as an encore. Though cries for more at the end are met by Tim Williams looking out as he walks of stage, and without a microphone, throws his arms apart and simply says "no."
One thought that hits me during this gig, it's been there on many many otheroccassions. Why is it, that when there's a live band with 2 guitarists, one is invariably soooooo much louder than the other, almost to the extent that you wonder if the second is actually plugged in. I've wondered that a lot. I wondered again tonight.
Decent enough gig, I'm sorry for those that wish to and still haven't had the fortune to see them live, but they're a good band imo, not a great one.