On Wednesday the 12th of September, when
families are having their dinner and unwinding
after work, Sound Control in Manchester was getting
ready to get ripped apart by four Hard-core American
Rock bands led by IWRESTLEDABEARONCE on their
world tour.
The first band to kick off the gig was Minnesota
band 'For All Those Sleeping'(FATS), who were
more like a spare wheel to the night, With several
Circle pit cries falling on deaf ears, the only
people who seemed into music were the band themselves,
the crowds heads were nodding but if they were
anything like me then it would be because there
were nodding off. Although the band wasn't responded
to very well, nothing can take away from how well
the band played. From the old fashioned American
intro to the last scream, nothing but charisma
and energy was on show; a great live set that
I would love to see on a Manchester Apollo sized
stage.
Just as the crowed recuperate from the 2nd take
to the stage, with no intro the band jump straight
into their set with lead screamer Davey Muise
making bass camp in the front of the stage where
the band and crowd united in a very special connection,
after a speech from Davey talking about how the
band felt that the last few times they played
in the UK, they were just playing to the crowd
and getting no response back; this time was a
different story because the small venue was filled
of mosh pits galore, the place had turned into
an absolute metal riot scene, ending the set with
the singer and guitarist on a table in the crowd
and an amp stack on stage, overlooking the carnage
they've caused! After reviewing such a response
from a crowd that once payed little attention
to them, the band and crowd joined each other
in an emotional group hug on stage, something
I've never seen before at a live gig, showing
just how much music means to them, which is an
amazing experience and in my opinion should have
been the headliners on the tour as they stole
the show.
The next band Joining the carnage were metal heavyweights
Oceano, who absolutely took over the stage like
a pack of angry pit bull's, who had the crowd
eating out of the palm their hand. The set was
more like a boxing match with every song beating
the snot out of the crowd, after previously playing
in Manchester 2/3 years its clear that from the
response the band got from previous gigs that
they earned a spot in the hearts of fans in Manchester.
So the 4th and final band to take to the stage
and get ready to tear down what's left of the
stage, are a band who's name claims that they
have wrestled a bear once, yes I'm talking about
the LA band
IWRESTLEDABEARONCE (IWABO), who's set although
very humorous, was like watching them wrestling
a bear and if lead screamer-stress violent vocals
were anything to go by then the bear would be
stunned silent by now. Mid way through the gig
leader of the 5pack, Krysta Cameron got the crowed
off their feet with a game of "The floor
is made of lava" proving to be a success
although it wasn't needed due to the crowd response,
although not as responsive as they were with Ocean,
fans still lapped up the energy from the band
and vise versa, resulting in taking down the bear
and winning the heavy metal wrestling match!
All in all the gig was an absolute pleasure to
review, one of the my favorite live experiences
to date.
I do feel though that IWRESTLEDABEARONCE didn't
fit the headline spot very well, because the crowd
seemed to just stand still through the set. They
suit more of an opener/support act slot reason
being; they seemed to drag towards the end, leaving
me thinking when it was going to end, which for
a world tour headliner isn't really ideal.
For All Those Sleeping 4/5
Vanna 5/5
Oceano 3/5
iwrestledabearonce 3/5
Review By Ciro Guadagno
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