Protest
The Hero
Long Distance Calling, Blood Command
Birmingham, Academy 2
3rd March 2012
Blood Command to me were half an hour
of head trauma, I don’t know how anybody
could stand those lead female vocals, I was left
with a severe migraine. They were very high pitched
and I feel that this wasn’t aided by the
fact the 2 guitarists weren’t harmonising
very well, they were meant to harmonise group
vocals but it just sounded out of tune. This opinion
wasn’t shared with my friend also in attendance
who openly stated he really liked the band but
whom I also caught at times cringing just as I
was. I could see though what direction they were
striving for with their sound, if their production
was adequate then their CD’s I imagine may
actually be very enjoyable, but that performance
was just not enough to win me over.
Long Distance Calling had me in 2 minds, Instrumental
music on CD does interest me when I’m at
home but I never really expect instrumental acts
to really produce much of an energetic life set
(and in my experience they usually haven’t)
not having vocals takes away that sing along aspect
of the show as well as the energy from having
a distinctive front man focussing solely on entertaining
the audience but here both guitarists and the
bassist seem to take it in turns after every song
to address the crowd and get them pumped, this
is what kept the set from being boring. I felt
myself enjoying the music just as I would at home
on CD whilst having my interest kept solely on
the stage which I’ve never had during an
instrumental set before, would definitely consider
seeing these guys again should they return to
our shores.
Protest The Hero just killed it. Not only do they
unleash hell but lead vocalist Rody Walker has
a knack for comedy; by which I mean every few
songs or so whilst the rest of the band are tuning,
refreshing themselves or various other things
he takes the spotlight poking fun at anything
and everything including himself, main topics
including ginger kids, how he himself isn’t
tough neither is the guy in the front row, addressing
the bloody noses in the pit, praising how he’s
allowed to use the word “faggot” in
our country without being condemned and a range
of other topics. After all the back and forth
with the audience they still managed to get through
a 12 song set list consisting of their finest
songs; “Sex Tapes”, “Bloodmeat”,
“Tounge-Splitter”, “Turn Soonest
to the Sea”, “Hair Trigger”
and closing with “C’est la Vie”.
Strange thing is that they didn’t play an
encore which was a bit awkward when people were
waiting around for ages after the show but after
a great set like that you couldn’t really
ask for more from the band. Thoroughly impressed.
Blood Command – 2/5
Long Distance Calling – 4/5
Protest the Hero – 4.5/5
Review By James Webb
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