The first act are about to begin, so far the crowd
is small in size, and the atmosphere in the room
is dead. It feels almost empty, but this all changes
when the band begin. Suddenly the room is alive,
no longer empty but full to the brim with sound
of Death Havana. The strength of the performance
barely moves the unwilling crowd. There entrance
turns the dead crowd to jelly with intense bassdrops
and trembling beatdowns immersed with electric
vocals. Like a machine they tear every song up,
twisting it around and laying it down right before
the everybody’s eyes. They never let the
static crowd infect their resilient energy and
passion for their music. They make the stage their
own and leave with pride.
The Second act begins, Moneen fill the whole room
with intense energy even before the end of the
first song, the force of the whole band explodes
in the kind intensity that send your eye-brows
shooting towards the ceiling; One innocent bystander
on the front row received a face full of exclaimed
lyrics from the front man. A scene that shocked
everybody, it was clear that the Canadians knew
how to express themselves. We all knew they weren’t
messing around. Almost every burst of sound is
accompanied by a whip of the guitarist’s
dreds, attacking the ground in a multitude of
moshing. The vocal harmonies drive every song
through its pounding journey. The guitarists even
came out in the crowd with drum sticks, beating
rhythms on the drums, the walls, the floors, through
the entirety of the building and the crowd. Every
now and then the energy will dissolve into a calm
ocean of clean guitars accompanied by a smile
from the leader singer, the kind of smile that
lets you know that these guys want you to undergo
something more than just an simple experience.
The swooping hand of Emery’s entrance grabs
the audience and shakes them to there very cores.
This is no longer an interval. Every song puts
the audience in a hysteric trace, the sweeping
guitar melodies intertwine in and out of the fabric
of the synthesiser. Its emery’s first time
in Nottingham but they don’t fail to capitalise
with some robin hood jokes. “Rich people
don’t live in Nottingham, they’ll
get jacked!” This preceded by a sardonic
tribute to Medena Lake (as they were playing next
door at Rock City.) Sarcasm seems to work on this
crowd. The band really begin to express their
true personality. For the first time of the night
the audience resonate at pitch a comparable to
that of the artists before them. Emery’s
energy at long last loosens up the self-conscious
crowd, finally reaching down inside them and reviving
the animals within. Now these people can sing
like they believe. “I would wait for you
forever, if you would just ask me.” Emery
systematically pull on all the heart strings of
the spectators whilst they dig deep through their
discography. The sound is so thick and fluid that
you can almost dive into it. Perspiration fills
the air, ”sometimes, it gets so hard to
breathe!” The crowd finally start to believe
in what they hear, and they let it out, at last
letting themselves go crazy. The roof comes off.
The audience are at Emery’s mercy. My sources
tell me Emery win their vote tonight.
Death Havana 3.5/5
Moneen 4.5/5
Emery 4/5
Review By Chris Ambridge
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