After a sweltering day in London spent with water
bottle firmly in hand I was looking forward to
getting out of the heat…and into a sweaty
venue. Luckily for me when I arrived at half eight
the Scala was quite empty. A small crowd had gathered
in front of the stage for the opening act but
apart from that the hall was quite bare.
Kicking off the show were the rather out of place
‘Electric River’ (3). A ska outfit
that admitted themselves had no right to be at
a metal night. Nonetheless the small but enthusiastic
crowd greeted them well. I have a sneaking suspicion
some of the people at the front were fans as when
songs such as ‘Monster’s Ball’
were played they went wild and kicked their legs
like old ska pros. To accommodate the people in
the crowd that weren’t necessarily ska fans
they played a ska-ed up cover of ‘Alive’
by ‘Pearl Jam’. For this one the singer
departed from the mic and let the guitarist take
centre stage. I can see why as he sung this song
seamlessly while still managing to put his own
twist on it. The Scala may not have been bulging
when ‘Electric River’ took the stage
but they definitely went down well with those
that were there.
Next Jim Stapley of the ‘Jim Stapley Band’
(3) sauntered on stage as though he was from a
different era. Oozing 70s rock and roll from every
pore he hung of the microphone delivering an old
school performance. Emanating sexuality, Jim Stapley
opened with ‘See You Next Tuesday’
and continued the set with a similar tone with
cheeky banter and an ‘I don’t care’
air. Meandering from one side of the stage to
the other he controlled the crowd and delivered
a performance that he was obviously passionate
about despite brief but slightly fractious between
song grumbling about his record label. His on
stage playful demeanour fitted perfectly with
his country blues rock n’ roll sound that
would have fitted in well on a ‘Black Crowes’
tour. Although it wasn’t what most of the
crowd had come to see his performance went down
well with the metal fans.
As the venue began to fill up ‘Black Sonic’
(3) took the stage. Thrashing out their unequivocally
classic metal sound they filled the Scala with
the kind of music that the black t-shirted leather
coat wearing crowd had obviously been waiting
for. Although the rest of the gig had been enjoyable
this was obviously more what everyone had come
for. They complimented their timeless sound with
powerful riffs, strong vocals and a performance
that endeared the gig goers. At one point Maehti
recorded the crowd on his digital camera which
got an obviously wild response.
The crowd waited with baited breathe as ‘Die
So Fluid’ (4) took the stage. As soon as
the music started pumping, the still crowd transformed
into a sweaty pit of bodies crashing into each
other. There is not denying bass wielding Grog
has immense presence. The stage is definitely
her domain, studded cat suit or not. Mixing up
their back catalogue with the new they blasted
out classics such as ‘Suck Me Dry and ‘Happy
Halloween’ and new tracks like ‘Mercury’.
Although their industrial sound may not be my
cup of tea there is no getting around the fact
that ‘Die So Fluid’ put on a memorable
show. Their set is tight due to their shared talent
and years spent playing together. All in all it
was a good night that ended on a high note thanks
to ‘Die So Fluid’.
Electric River 3/5
Jim Stapley 3/5
Black Sonic 3/5
Die So Fluid 4/5
Review By Nicci Peet |
