First
up are electronic/dub step band Engine Earz Experiment
and right away I knew I was going to have a bad
time, it's slow it's boring and not all that exciting
to watch, too much smoke and the random lighting
make it rather boring, just random beats and that
distinct and annoying wub wub sound, with a too
shouty over opinionated vocalist, with the female
half throwing out lots of wooooahs and moans,
not sure what the point is but there you have
it. The crowd, at times, looked as bored as I
am.
Cancer
Bats are up next, a band I've never seen but have
heard a fair few things about and they have always
been on one tour or another. I suspect that some
folk here tonight are here for Cancer Bats only
and may leave when they are done. They are a hard
core/metal band from the US, and have a pretty
energetic sound with a good amount of heaviness
to it, they are also a rather energetic band stage
pressence wise, so watching them is pretty good.
They have some real heavy moments in 'Sorceress',
and 'Lucifers Rocking Chair' is pretty awesome,
heavy and catchy, a good slow heavy head banger.
They play a pretty heavy and very lively cover
of the Beastie Boys 'Sabotage', I like it a lot
too. They close out their set with 'Hail Destroyer',
which is a pretty damn awesome heavy song, seems
heavier than the album version too. 'R.A.T.S'
is the final song of the set and close out in
lively style suspecting using the last bits of
energy they have left, leaving the stage being
a tough act to follow.
After
missing out on seeing Enter Shikari so many times
before, tonight is the 3rd time of seeing them
in 14 months, and I have to say I have become
a huge fan of their mixed rock/metal and electronic
sound, and fast becoming one of the bands I really
like to see live, as they put on a great show,
and tonight is no different even though they hit
the stage at the rather early time of 8:15pm.
They open their set with 'System' and the lighting
goes nuts with the crowd following suit. As I've
seen them before there is no doubt the band is
full of energy on the second night of Birmingham
shows. 'Meltdown' and 'Sssnakepit', (I really
want to try the beer), follow taking the energy
up a notch, one of my particular favourites is
'Gandhi mate, Gandhi', such a fun high energy
track. The part which amuses me most is where
the song breaks down after Rou goes a tad mental.
The
pit is a dangerous place to be tonight, crowd
surfers everywhere and every few seconds too.
The band tonight are really on it, it's sounds
livelier and heavier than usual, I guess there's
more energy to feed off in a smaller venue, it's
rather electrifying.
They continue their high octane set with the likes
of 'Labyrinth', 'Destabilise', 'Return to Energiser',.'Warm
Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here' sees Rou
on the keys for the intro. At this stage we are
over the half way point, the set has pretty much
flown by in fine style. 'Gap In The Fence' is
started in comedic fashion with a bad cover of
a song played on the acoustic guitar before the
rest of the band kick back in.
The
final few songs of the main set are 'Juggernauts',
'Arguing With Thermometers' and 'Mothership',
all Superb lively songs to keep the crowd highly
energised for the encore.
Enter Shikari open the encore with 'Constellations',
it's a pretty good song taking things down a notch
and finish the song with confetti canons covering
the room in confetti and glitter. The final two
songs of the night are the highly catchy and tuneful
'Pack Of Thieves', and the aptly named 'Zzzonked',
which is how you should be feeling after the gig
is finished, taking your last dregs of energy
if you've done the night properly which many have.
Engine Earz Experiment 0/5
Cancer Bats 4/5
Enter Shikari 5/5
Review By Robert Lawrence
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