CAVALCADES/SHALLOWS/SPEEDBOAT SALESMENT//HARDSHIPS/WE SLEEP IN THIS MACHINE - LIVE REVIEW
After staying fairly quiet on the live review front, I decided to go down to our favourite venue on Sunday night to check out a bunch of bands I’d never heard of. I decided also, to make the mistake of trying to take some pictures of the show (something I’ve never done before) to try and bring this blog into the 21st century. The photos were to say the least, desperate. The bands however, killed it, and in their own different ways.
The first two bands on the bill were late additions, with We Sleep In This Machine opening. They played through a short set of wonderful post hardcore, gilded with numerous little melodies that contrast with a raw vocal sound. These guys are really sedate one moment, before thrashing the next; making for a pretty distinctive sound that isn’t just mildly good, but thoroughly enjoyable, and at times mesmerising. They’re playing a load of local dates within the next few months, so keep your eyes skinned. Next up were the hard hitting lads in Hardships (OK I lied earlier, these guys being the only band I’ve seen before), delivering a barrage of fairly basic, but mentally catchy hardcore, which probably goes some way to explaining why they got even a pretty small gathering moving about and shouting back. As usual, these guys didn’t disappoint, and their performance served as a reminder as to why these guys are growing within the local scene.
Following on, and in pretty stark contrast to Hardships was two piece Speedboat Salesmen. Playing through a series of nice simple tunes that prove you don’t need much more than some chords, beats and some sad stuff to sing about. Including a pledge to Whitney Houston, which was both a little awkward but a kind of nice touch too. This duo were again, really good at what they do, and enjoyable on my part not least because they’re the sort of band I can take my girlfriend to see since she doesn’t like hardcore.
Noisy, techy spider-monkey knife fight five piece Shallows were up next, blazing through a load of fast, ludicrous madness that was only slowed due to a bass head issue. They seemed pretty seasoned in creating chaotic music, and helped showcase the diversity of this lineup perfectly.
Headliners Cavalcades presented us with their upbeat melodic hardcore, with the whole band cavorting about, blasting out fast harmonies and generally filling what was a fairly big room with their presence. These guys are on tour at the moment, and if you get a chance, you should definitely check them out. I was a little disappointed when they finished, as not only were they killing it, but it meant the show had come to an end.
These shows are what the scene needs; more different styles together, each bringing their own to the evening. Big up to Ed for putting the show on, it’s fairly unusual for every band on a bill to be decent, but they all killed it.
