 
Being a Bierkeller virgin, I had no idea what
the venue was going to look like. I have to say
when I noticed the entrance looked like a small
single door entrance to a strip club, I got a
little worried. But when I got inside to find
lots of, well, bierkellers (long, picnic style
tables for those of you who don’t know -
I had to be told too) in a large, open plan, pub-style
setting. No one was on the floor in front of the
stage, instead everyone was sat having a casual
drink with their friends. Luckily when Slaves
to Gravity took to the stage, a small group formed
about 4 feet from the front of the stage. It seemed
people wanted to play it safe and keep their distance.
Slaves to Gravity are one of the most diverse
looking bands I’ve seen in a long time.
Each of their appearances were dramatically different,
save from their likeness for wearing skinny jeans.
Tommy Gleeson (lead vocals/guitar) in particular
reminded me of a Johnny Depp-esque pirate with
his long, black ponytail, facial hair and various
piercings. From start to finish, Slaves to Gravity
demonstrated a raw, passionate style of grungy
rock, which, although not my cup of tea, was pretty
damn good. The crowd remained fairly small for
the whole set, but a fair few started nodding
their heads in time with the music, so appreciation
was shown where it was due. What was more, the
band were very humble and really seemed to appreciate
every ounce of applause they received.
My favourite song of their set had to be ‘Big
Red’, which was their debut single. The
song oozes intense riffs and a powerful, soulful
chorus. The adrenaline virtually drips off of
them as each chord is played. In fact, bassist,
Toshi Ogawa leapt around the stage so much it
was as if he’d had copious amounts of Lucozade
before heading out to face the crowd. This theme
carried through for songs such as their forthcoming
single ‘Meantime’ and ‘Mr Regulator’.
The band seemed to carry out their show of dark,
gritty rock with a great sense of ease for the
entirety of the time that they were on stage and
they were incredibly watchable and nothing short
of very entertaining.
Having known that Oceansize supported Fightstar
(a band I am secretly quite fond of) last year,
I had high hopes of what they were going to be
like, having not actually heard them live before.
After Slaves to Gravity had left the stage the
crowd had immediately shimmied right to the front
eagerly awaiting Oceansize’s arrival. It
seemed every tall man in Bristol was out and was
stood in my eyeline so I had to move to the side
to get a good view.
When Oceansize entered the stage, the hardcore
fans at the front went absolutely crazy, as Oceansize
started off with ‘Trail of Fire’ which
included a long instrumental at the beginning
which seemed, to me, to go on for eternity before
the vocals kicked in, which were barely audible.
It was hard to tell if this was because Mike Vennart
(lead vocals/guitar) was singing extra quietly,
or whether the sound was not high enough in the
venue. It just did not sound very distinguished
and I found it difficult to make out the core
of the lyrics. The songs that followed, including
a mix from their last album, ‘Everyone Into
Position’ and some new material from their
forthcoming album ‘Frames’, sounded
much more promising with really intense and bolshy
intros which managed to get hold of my attention
again, but once the introductions had finished,
the songs seemed to settle into a much more mellow
and tranquil sound.
In all honesty, as songs progressed, I was left
increasingly more dissatisfied. It seemed a lot
of people had resorted to sitting down, or on
the sidelines, looking considerably bored, as
I was. Now don’t get me wrong, there was
a small, strong crowd, continuously enthralled
by Oceansize’s set, and they demonstrated
it by their roar of applause and enthusiastic
cheers, but the band’s music just did not
grasp me.
Before this review begins to sound like the most
negative thing I could ever write, I have to say
that when listening to Oceansize’s songs
before I saw them play live, I quite liked them.
But in my personal opinion, when I saw them, it
did not translate successfully to a performance.
If I were to liken their sound to another band’s,
I would say they definitely have elements of Radiohead
with their eclectic compositions. It was simply
that the awe of Radiohead was not present this
night and the music did not capture my spirits
like progressive rock can.
Their songs rarely come in at a running time under
five minutes due to their lengthy instrumentals,
which clearly demonstrate a talent which the members
of the band possess. Regardless of this, I couldn’t
help thinking that instrumentals are merely backgrounds
which are perfectly lovely to listen to from a
CD as and when you choose, but during a gig, I
had no real focus upon it.
The band themselves, did not seem overly happy
to be doing what they were doing; barely moving
apart from rare occasions. Its monotony and low-tone
left the time dragging during a live set, and
the fact that I really had to strain to try and
hear what was being sung. I really wanted to like
Oceansize, and given what I had heard of their
material beforehand, I thought I would. When I
go to see a band play live, they don’t necessarily
need to be my ‘kind of band’, they
just need to be memorable. But unfortunately,
for me, they simply were not.
Review By Fiona
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