Millennium Of Blood - Friday
5th September 2008
Aside from being Millennium Of Blood's
second promotion, this was also a shindig to celebrate the
better half's Birthday earlier in the week (cue resounding
chorus of "Happy Birthday Pink Minx"...).
We also welcomed a new member to the "Family of Blood"
namely Red
our ever eager lenswoman! Regrettably Acres Of Ocean had
to cancel late on (get well soon Adam!) but it was good
to see Sam from the band along with his good lady Kim. Enough
of the pre-amble, first band on were...
AfterSin. Having seen
the last ever gig by Cre3per it was only a matter
of time before bands emerged phoenix-like from the ashes.
AfterSin are an amalgamation of members from the
aforementioned band, along with musicians from Sweet
Seduction and Diaboliss. They play classic
rock with a sleaze twist and are a very tight live outfit,
especially considering that this was only their third gig.
They have an EP out soon which should propel them forwards
at a rate of knots. Coupled with live performances like
this and I'm sure they will do well. Three originals kicked
things off - "Party Trick", "A Little
More" and "Prize" were all
well received. The first cover of the night was up next
in the shape of Velvet Revolver's "Slither"
which went down a storm. Back to originals to conclude,
"Controls" and "My Sins"
completing an excellent opening set. Hope we will see you
playing another MoB night soon fellas.
Brenda had travelled a
long way to play (Poole to be precise) and earlier technical
problems meant their set had to be cut slightly shorter
than originally planned - sorry fellas. They have three
guitarists in their ranks and play intricate indie. Doesn't
quite do what they do justice but it's about as close as
I can get. Their music alternated between gentle, almost
hypnotic, sections followed by furious blasts of intense
and passionate rock. They draw on a wide variety of influences
and to my ears combine them well. Their two EPs featured
prominently and I would urge people to track them down as
they are a genuinely worthwhile listen. They seemed to generate
an almost Opeth-esque Marmite reaction i.e. you
either love them or loathe them. Guys I fall into the former
camp and think you played a blinder. Technically brilliant,
I admire the complexity you brought to the evening - thank
you!
The Lowlifes had stepped
in at very short notice but you'd never have known. Absolutely
stunning set. The good lady has been raving about these
guys for a while and rightly so. They were good at Scruffy
Murphy's recently supporting
Martyr de Mona (tenuous link... more later) this
performance was superb. They play old school rock but deliver
it with a modern twist - go and see them, you'll understand
what I mean! The recent EP was delivered in blistering style
with "Back To The Heavy" and "Lady
Whiskey" being the highlights for me. Rarely will
you see a band deliver a set with so much conviction whilst
enjoying themselves immensely in the process. Great entertainment,
look forward to seeing you unleash your mayhem again soon.
Adust had hinted that
they had a trick or two up their sleeve for this gig, and
they did, delivering a totally different set to that witnessed
less than a week ago at the Asylum. For starters they played
the intro "Enmity" rather than using
a CD which was a nice touch. Naturally this led into "Fall
Of Man" which was as aggressive and technical
as ever. The power generated in the breakdown section was
quite frankly mindblowing and was a cue for much frenzied
headbanging and air-guitaring (still enough about me...).
"Prinzessin" followed
next and the savagery level was definitely undiminished.
So far as you'd expect... then came a triple whammy of cover
versions. It would appear that Martyr de Mona are
good friends of Adust, and as they are on the bill next
month they had "Eva" dedicated to them
along with guest vocals from Louis from MdM. Great
cover fellas. Next up was Porcupine Tree's "Open
Car" which was equally stunning, and allowed the
vocalist Rob to have a breather and join the crowd a short
distance from the stage; surreal but inspired.
Killswitch Engage's "Life To Lifeless"
prompted more frenzied headbanging and was stunning in its
execution. All of this had been delivered flawlessly and
with immense stage presence.
Two originals sandwiched another cover
to conclude the set proper, "Blinded By Ignorance"
and "Forevermore", and "Slave
New World" respectively. "Forevermore"
also had the distinction of having MoB's first pit; let's
face it, it would have been rude not to have got involved...
(then again I had been trying to start off a circle pit
for a while!). Rapturous applause meant that we had MoB's
first encore with "Fall Of Man" getting
another brutal airing. A stunning performance to round off
a highly entertaining evening.
Thank yous first. To all the bands, who
all delivered excellent sets. To our ever loyal crew, thank
you for your continued support. To our new recruit Red,
thank you and can't wait to see the photos (if the
sneak preview is anything to go by I'm grinning already!).
To Pink aka the better half,
thanks for selecting the bands and hope you enjoyed the
evening! Last but not least, thanks to everyone who turned
up and supported the bands so enthusiastically. Hope you
had a good time, come back and see us soon!!
Unfair to single out a band of the night
as it was a much more varied bill than usual. In my opinion
all four bands were on top form and played excellent sets.
Thank you once more to you all. It was great to see the
Bear much fuller, let's hope we are heaving when Millennium
of Blood 3 rolls into town soon!!
