Right then, just a quick review, as a more detailed piece is on it's way, featuring an interview with Nial from 3D and Rich from Scarabeus, and input from others who were wandering round, intimidating me by their very presence. The interview should be here sometime very soon. Although when I say here, I mean it will be in the second issue of the Zine.
Scarabeus run through a pretty decent set, which seems to be culled mostly from their latest demo, Southern Magnet. And pretty good it's sounding too. Since last year, they progressed their sound, updated it to reflect our tastes as Rich said later. as well as the Seps like crunch, there's a Kornesque new metal (yuck) flavour to it now. Phil joins the band to add vocals to their customary cover of Sepultura's Slave New World, and stays to perform another new Scarabeus song Nucleic if I remember correctly. As ever it seems, there's not much reaction from the crowd, but when is there ever a reaction from people if it's not in response to the latest media induced frenzied future of rock, so the band finish off with the delicate song, dedicated to all lovers, Gargoyle. The band seem happy enough afterwareds, especially given that they sold all the shirts that they brought with them. And a few demo's too I expect, which isn't surprising, as their demo's as some of the most professionally packaged that I've seen. They put A LOT of bands to shame with that. You should have a look and take a listen. Find things for yourself. It's fun.
So, to the Dambusters theme, sub sonic sludgers, damn, I knew there was something I forgot to ask, 3D House of Beef take to the stage and once more hammer out a sound that 3 people should not reasonably be expected to make. Given that this isn't my first experience of the live Beef sound, I think i know what to expect. I'd forgotten though that they are, in my opinion, even more powerful live. The songs seem to come alive that little bit more. The new material doesn't sound overly different to the old stuff, and is powerful as hell, and in spite of the lacklustre crowd response, of which I'm as guilty as the next person, the band still seem to give it their all. A professionalism which is admirable. The lead off track off the new sampler tape sounds excellent. It sounded a little more accessible than some of the older material of the self titled CD, but the absolute highlight is still Live Coward Live. That is one classic song. So how do you describe the sound, I guess sub sonic sludgers sums it up. It's heavy, it's distorted, it's slow, it's challenging, it's 3D House of Beef. And that's the best way to describe any band, having their own sound.