As i drove the now familiar route to one of my
favorite local venues that is The Fleece in Bristol,
i realised that this was the most confused i had
ever been in regards to what the night had to
give. Although i have grown up listening to the
punk sounds of Aiden, i had no clue of what to
expect from front man William Francis' solo project
'William Control'. Although i have been a fan
of Aiden, i have always seen them as a band with
a confused identity, with the music sitting somewhere
between Alkaline Trio and AFI but their image
being firmly in a more gothic genre. Regardless,
they have always been a band that produces excellent
quality, track after track and has always kept
a strong fan base.
 Pulling
up at the venue, nearly two hours before the doors
are due to open i am met by a very busy side street
of fans dressed in some vent unique ways. Some
of reminiscent of images from Aiden videos, but
many in more cyber goth attire. From the handful
of William Control videos i had watched online
and the Wikipedia open description of 'Electronic
Music Artist' my first introduction to his fans
did help me to draw any more conclusions on what
to expect.
I walked inside early as i was due to interview
William before the gig, and i was lucky enough
to catch the band doing a sound check. It was
a very static and calm event to watch, with William
dressed in plane black clothes and clearly focusing
on the music. It wasn't very eventful to watch,
but i didn't expect the band to be bouncing off
the walls. I was once again reminded of Alkaline
Trio in the performance, where the excellence
of the performance came not from the movement
on stage, but the nearly CD like performance of
their songs.
 The
band finished the sound check and quickly left
to their dressing room, where i was left to find
the tour manager to organize the interview. Strangely
enough i soon found out the William was tour managing
himself, so i was quickly introduced to him and
away we went for the interview. If you want to
know what was said make sure you check out the
write up under the interviews section.
The interview went well, and it was amazing to
meet a guy that has had so much success with Aiden
go back to basics, writing music that he is passionate
about and touring off his his own back, not be
make a large amount of money, but just get to
his music out to his fans and do what he loves
the most, performing live.
 The
doors are open and the fans are in. Without too
much waiting around the the support bands play
out their sets gaining good attention from the
crowd. Each band seemed to bring different elements
that would add to build up of the night adding
a little bit of crazy, goth, darkness and a little
bit of electro music into the mix. The final support
act 'Fearless Vampire Killers' were however, the
only act to keep me interested through the whole
set. Although their playing suffered severely
from their crazy jumping around on stage (and
running through the crowd) their songs had the
pace of most Aiden tracks and their 'undead' dress
code really got everyone in a great mood for the
main act.
After a small rest the venue lights dim and the
crowd begin to cheer. They are soon drowned out
as the beginning of 'New World Order' starts to
boom over the PA. The light are still dim and
no one can be seen on the stage. As the drum roll
kicks in the lights go up to reveal the band with
the focus clearly on William, far in front of
his other band members and dead center of the
stage. His plain black shirt from the sound check
has now been replaced with a period white shirt
with black waistcoat. His dark eyes are the finishes
touches to this menacing appearance. His dress
is much more subtle than the previous acts, but
is refined and all the more dramatic.
 The
sound fills this small venue and the perfection
of his voice makes me doubt it is live, but of
course it is. From just 30 seconds in William
had demonstrated all of the skill and performance
technique that he has perfected after years of
touring both William Control and Aiden. Every
detail, down to the expression on his face as
he spits every word with emotion contains so much
power, keeping the fans fixed on him.
As the songs fly past, i find myself lost in this
theatrical masterpiece. I forget where i am as
i am transfixed on the band, as is every other
person in the venue. It was like living in the
songs, imagining the scenes that have been dreamt
up in William Francis' mind.
As i finish shooting the band from nearly every
angle, i find myself coming back to reality, only
due to the fact of not knowing the songs or the
accompanying stories. As i think back to the crazy
antics of some of the support acts, i wonder if
William Control's professional standards and theatrical
dress were enough on their own. I did smile to
myself on the several occasions that William showed
his lack of worry for our smoking laws as his
lit up a cigarette and smokes both during and
between songs.
 Sure
enough my thoughts were quickly answered. As if
from out of nowhere, William pulls a young blonde
woman out of the audience and on stage with him.
He proceeded to tie her wrists together and then
bent for over the bass drum in a revealing and
provocative manner. He then began to sing and
showed no signs of letting the girl free until
at least the end of the song. To surprise me even
more, he started to slap her from behind, and
not in a stage fight manner, as he ripped open
her netted tights. Now becoming very revealed
to the audience and very red from the repeated
slapping, she was picked up and offered to the
audience so they could participate. I didn't know
how to feel, i was just socked, but also pleased
that something this dramatic had been pulled out
of the bag.
As the song drew to a close, William said thank
you to the girl by name, and it was obvious that
this was a pre arranged event. She was smiling
happily having taken part and she returned to
the audience as the final few songs including
a two track encore.
Overall the night was far outside of something
that i would usually attend, but it was a great
event. It felt more like going to the theatre
than attending a music concert, but the same sense
of satisfaction was achieved at the end regardless
of how it was classified. The night not only made
me a fan of the gentleman that is William Francis
but entertained me enough that regardless of my
music taste, would bring me to another William
Control gig as it sure to be a great night out.
William Control 4/5
Review By Neil Oliver
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