Gig Review

Architects
Norma Jean, devil Sold His Soul
Bristol, Academy

9th October 2010
 
          
Architects         Norma Jean      Devil Sold His Soul
          
Photo Of Devil Sold His Soul © Copyright TriggerTonight I headed to the Academy in Bristol for what has to be billed as one of the heaviest gigs this little venue has hosted in a long time with Lower Than Atlantis, Devil Sold His Soul, Norma Jean and The Architects completing the line up, the show was originally scheduled to take place at the Academy 2 but due to quick ticket sales the show got upgraded to the main Academy venue and also happened to be the last show of the whole tour.

As soon as I got to the venue I felt a little tired and out of place, the tiredness was more jet lag from returning from Cuba only a few days previously and the out of place feeling was because the venue was full of scene kids covered in tight V neck t-shirts, chest piece tattoos and swept to the side emo fringes.

By the time we got into the venue Lower Than Atlantis had finished which I was gutted about as they were the band I was looking forward to the most but due to the early stage time and massive queue outside the venue which was full of people buying tickets on the door it took a good 40 minutes to get inside so as soon as we got in we made our way to the front for Devil Sold His Sole.

Photo Of Norma Jean © Copyright TriggerDevil Sold His Soul are a band that I have heard a lot about in the past and also enjoyed listening to their albums but at the same time I have never seen them live until tonight dispute them being my most local band with guitarist Jonny Renshaw living in the same small Cotswold town as me.

Within seconds of Devil Sold His Soul taking to the stage I knew we were in for a treat as they had such great stage presence and came across so tight like a band who have been slogging their guts off for years which technically is what Devil Sold His Soul have been doing since they formed.

The set that Devil Sold His Soul played was pretty short consisting of about 7 songs which featured ‘Tides’, ‘The Weight Of Faith’, ‘An Ocean Of Lights’, ‘Callous Heart’ and the closing track ‘Hope’, the set was a good mix of new and old material and it was so good to hear the mix of ambient soundscapes, brutal noise and scary screams throughout the set.

Next up were Douglasvilles finest Norma Jean, a band who have been making a noise for a good ten years and they had the crowd of Bristol in the palm of their hands from the start right until the end of their set with the mosh pit erupting into a frenzy of mad violence and hectic crowd surfers.

Norma Jean closed their set with some guest vocals from Devil Sold His Soul’s frontman Ed Gibbs who ran around the stage giving his all for the best part of 3minutes which went down an absolute storm.

Photo Of Architects © Copyright TriggerThere was a good 30minute wait before the headline act The Architects took to the stage but that time soon went by and before you knew it the lights had dimmed and The Architects took to the stage and blasted straight into new song ‘Day In Day Out’ which seemed to be an absolute winner as once again the crowd surfing started seconds into the set and did not give up.

The stage set up that The Architects had was pretty good with three little platform steps sticking out which had bright lights flashing out of to light up the band members when stood on them and front man Sam Carter made the most out of these platforms charging the stage to get from each and every platform.

The set list consisted of 13 songs and it was a big mix of old and new material and songs such as ‘In Elegence’, ‘Dethroned’, ‘Buried At Sea’, ‘To The Death’, ‘Left With A Last Minute’ all went down really well with the crowd, I started off loving The Architects but towards the end of the set the pure brutal noise was too much for me to handle which led to me leaving before the encore of ‘Follow The Water’.

Overall tonight I feel that I witnessed a couple of the best rising bands in Britain at the moment and also a long running legendary American based hardcore band who all seem to currently be at the top of their game, however I would advise you never to go to a gig of this style whilst jet lagged as it did stop me from fully enjoying The Architects who I am sure I would of loved on any other given day.

Devil Sold His Soul 4/5
Norma Jean 4/5
Architects 3/5

Review By Trigger

 Architects


Sam Carter
Tom Searle
Dan Searle
Alex Dean
Tim Hillier-Brook

 Norma Jean


Cory Brandan Putman
Scottie Henry
Chris Day
Jake Schultz
Chris Raines

 Devil Sold His Soul


Ed Gibbs
Jonny Renshaw
Rick Chapple
Iain Trotter
Paul Kitney
Leks Wood

 Band Related Links
Architects Myspace
Norma Jean Myspace
Devil Sold His Soul Myspace
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?