In Dantes Eclipse are the first of the
3 local acts chosen as the support for this show.
First off in their defence they didn’t have
the best of luck, a few songs in the lead guitarists
guitar string snapped and rendered him unable
to play; this was however remedied, the vocalist
swapped guitars with him and pushed on, it was
clear straight away however that this had affected
the band because there were initially mistakes
and tuning problems but they were resolved. That’s
left me giving them the benefit of the doubt from
this show, what I didn’t like is how the
vocalist treated the show as though it wasn’t
serious and just talking to his friends in the
front row, I can’t look at this as a proper
show if they’re going to mess around unprofessionally
like that, wasn’t impressed with this set
at all.
White Heather take to the stage second and whilst
they still mess around a bit on stage it’s
not in such a way that distracts from the show.
They use humour and aggression to provoke and
reaction from the small unenthusiastic audience,
to some degree it works but you can only provoke
as much reaction as this low amount of collective
people have. Whilst they have that slight advantage
over the first act in regards to professionalism
they don’t really deal with the awkward
silences all that well and some of the vocals
on the tracks were a bit too much for me. Advice
from me would be to really hone in on the sound
and work out the kinks, also try to energise the
room even if there is very few people in it.
Signify shocked me as this is one local act I’ve
seen on numerous occasions but when they took
the stage I was rendered utterly baffled, 3 of
the members I was accustomed to seeing up there
had gone. I’ve not really gave this band
the best of reviews in the past but I must say
with this new line up and new material everything
is sounding much tighter. The new vocalist as
well makes for a superior front man, exudes much
more confidence than his predecessor with clear
projection and no fear. His vocal work as well
on the songs I’m accustomed to hearing from
them are much better I feel than they were and
I’ve began to find myself really enjoying
their material. These guys definitely picked the
last half of the show up for a cracking conclusion.
The Treatment just rocked it, simple as. Not
a tremendously huge set for a headline act but
they smashed it none the less with 40 minutes
of straight up bouncy rock. Persistence and drive
from front man Matt Jones finally got this crowd
involved with the night, clapping singing along
and generally doing more than just gawking at
the band, where the other bands failed The Treatment
succeeded. Their set comprised of songs from their
album but with 4 covers alongside; “Road
Rocket” and “Way of the World”
by More, “Killer” by Roadstar and
an appropriate send ended for a show at The Slade
Rooms “Get Down Get With It” by Slade.
They played a very good set but what impressed
me most is that they didn’t even let the
empty spaces dotted around the venue phase them
in the slightest, it takes real determination
to make every show the best it could possibly
be which will help them when it comes to winning
people over in this business.
In Dantes Eclipse – 2.5/5
White Heather – 3.5/5
Signify – 4/5
The Treatment – 4.5/5
Review By James Webb
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