Original bands, original music from Lincoln & Beyond

Evil Scarecrow + DefNation + Eibon La Furies + Detonal State + Crucify This + Root

Thursday, 02 September 2010

Aurora Promotions @ Duke of Wellington

19 December 2009

Photos & Review by Pete

The timing of this season's finale of Strictly Come Dancing meant that despite rushing like mad most metalheads would still miss Root, openers of the final Aurora Promotion’s night of the 2009.  A case of bad timing

As second act Crucify This were setting up promoter Dawn Stephenson took the opportunity to explan that they would be joining Root amongst the growing roster of bands she would be managing next year.  No doubt about it her Red Bull energy levels would put most hyperactive youngsters to shame, how does she do it?  Crucify This are a keen mid-tempo young outfit who perform comfortably within fairly modest expectations - but even so this band look the business and are easy on the eye as well as suitably hard on the ear. Despite the slight caution or lack of ambition it’s good stuff, with the significant advantage of a Tom Waits inflected vocal and plenty of attention to keeping it together as a band.

Legendary (even in my lifetime) Detonal State still looking ready to get down to business. Grinning from the start they were clearly up for this one. But I gotta say that from where I was, listening from the distant recesses at the back of the room,  it might have been full-on but put together in an oddly disjointed way.  I admit I didn’t get it at all and wondered if it was one more indicator of encroaching Alzheimers on my part - and all this despite having been warmly anticipating hearing them again.  It's hard to figure it, but with such committed individual performances that only momentarily would coalesce to the point where the whole became greater than the sum of the parts it looked like a missed opportunity for a band with more incarnations that a very old soul. But maybe I’d got it all wrong cos funny thing is moving up close to take a few pictures and soon all these doubts were somehow dispelled and it didn't take long either.  The band's on-stage vibe was heady stuff and it was hard to resist simply stop analyising and just start luxuriating in all that dependable heavy metal pedigree - like settling back into a comfy old sofa, which may be all beat-up cos it’s been around a long time but it’s still so cosy.  Pretty soon it’s easy to start wondering why you’d never want anything else. Representatives from Plaguesfire were also parked up there amongst the long-time fans who made it along showing the love. It briefly got a bit darkly festival with a ‘winter song’ which was subversively a ‘nuclear winter’ song. They also did the totally bizarre and levered in a slice of 1930’s Berlin carnival/cabaret instrumental, which was just, well bizarre.  With dual vocals which were unpretentious if not throat-grabbing it was the simple rough-stuff of pulsing riffs that were really irrisistable and despite knocking the openers for not raising their game this wasn't a total success for a band who had decided to aim higher. Song structures were complex but despite some virtuoso guitar work that was at times breath-taking it was overall ultimately perhaps less satisfying as a result of that extra work.

Eibon la Furies risked our fury by taking nearly half an hour to set up for their complex pre-performance performance.  While the later headliners Evil Scarecrow would bring the same theatricality to the heart of their heavy metal act it was a different kind of showmanship here. Intriguingly Eibon la Furies have been snapped up by an Italian metal label and it’s easy to imagine the religious banners, the black hooded habits, candles and sombre books that burst into flames when opened might resonate even more deeply with fans whose sensibilities were shaped in childhood by the vivid tableaux of Catholicism.  Top notch lighting was a dazzling bonus - and hey, those satanic darting eyes, hang on, it’s the singer from Plaguesfire.  He's a great front-man with skilfully expressive stagecraft as well as a solid mean son-of-a-bitch vocal and  some deft guitar playing (that was way too soft in the mix all the way through till the very end when it was cranked up and finally asserted itself over the battering drum-work. Their clever use of varied backing tracks to add an extra dimension to the sounds possible from a three piece outfit was worthy of note being subtle and inventive. A lot of preparation has gone into every detail and playing to a hundred strong crowd who showed real appreciation a level of exciting catharsis was within achieved, the sort that normally would require many years of one-to-one cognitive behavioural therapy on the NHS or the falling in love thing, or both.

Fast forward and with the room swept clean of smokers who were braving the blizzards outside between acts it gave the perfect opportunity to bag some space right up front for the 2009 BOTB co-winners.  It was worth the forward planning.  DefNation, fuck, they’re good, I’d forgotten just how good.  OK, right now at this minute and admittedly despite not having heard everybody else, I’d say they are possibly the best live band in Britain – no, hang on, the best live band in the world.  And why not?  While being possibly retarded and not giving a shit they are thriving, resourceful with the solidity of a big iceberg they are chillingly massive right now.  A good mix of faces and personalities there is a scale here and a relevance that is something refreshing - from some white working-class losers who would be ignored anywhere else but on a stage like this.  Further testimony to their furtive appeal was the contemptuous baseball cap flung from on stage in the direction of my intrusive, naff art-school motivated camera lens.  Hey, see this band soon, before their nasty razor sharp edge is blunted by the realities of keeping it real indefinitely.  They are for me the whole point of live music right now.

Headliners Evil Scarecrow have established themselves as firm favourites here in Lincoln over the last year or so, no mean achievement – but faced with the uphill task of following DefNation they could be excused for wilting a little bit as they did.  But sixty or so of the faithful stuck around through midnight to be entertained by songs of witches and hell dogs.  While delivering solid metal – and if they should dispense with the blood-soaked clobber and the satirical writing yeah this would sound full on and totally credible on the radio – but their funny routines have begun to look a bit tired, like hearing the same joke too many times.  It is still heart-warming - yeah, even the four note guitar solo is daft but so well done it was almost zen –like in its perfection, the shadow of the previous band on before them proved too intimidating and the festive cheer they brought was on this occasion a tad diminished on previous appearances.  Nothing to be ashamed of, nobody could live with the DefNation right now.

An evening with a quality line up and a great reminder of the merciless power of committed live music nights.

Some more photos at www.shinephoto.plus.com website.

Band Websites:

Evil Scarecrow
DefNation
Eibon La Furies
DeTonal State
Crucify This
Root

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