**FIRST BIRTHDAY OF METAL GOES MENTAL**
Renegade State – Bury the Conscious - Black Cat
Bones - The Jeffrey Uppercut - The Torn Prince – Templar - Sa Da Ko & Thunderground
The Zanzibar - Liverpool
12th July 2013
Well talk about
more bang for your buck! The Zanzi was awash with bands last night despite the
Metal to the Masses going on at the Lomax – big congratulations to Oceanis –
well deserved and commiserations to Lazarus Syndrome, Pandemik and Fig 1.
Although the
weather was over powering oppressive – the bands worked their particular brand
of magic and produced a superb night’s entertainment has to be said.
Renegade State
– Liverpool
Links:
Genre: Metal
Core with Groove
First up were Renegade State – again no ‘Little Dark
Lies’ which was disappointing but I am ever hopeful they will somehow
incorporate it into a set at some point again in the not too distant future.
Joe, Phil, Mike and Tom
Joe, Mike, Tom and Phil
I can't help
but love Renegade for their extreme passion on stage – Mike and Phil usually go
ape and last night was no exception and in this blistering heat I was quite
amazed that they managed to be so mobile...
Tom lost his
guitar strap through one of the tracks and as any professional would do carried
on and nailed the track with precision stringed splendour – really awesome to
see, in fact I don’t even think anyone noticed – I did, only because I was
directly at the front of the stage.
I have listened
to Renegade State a lot and love singing
along to the tracks Judgement Day with its catchy “Mother Fuckers!” contained
in the lyrics it’s great to sing along to – although for me ‘Little Dark Lies’
is and always will be my favourite track.
Renegade have
proved time and time again that they can overcome any hardship that befalls
them from taunting crowd members to loosening guitar straps and sets that have
to be cut short for one reason or another – but in my opinion, I think this has
made the band much stronger, not only in stage presence and confidence but in
playing power.
Renegade were
there till the bitter end of the gig supporting the other bands and this is a true
sign of their metalness and long may it long continue
I will be
really sorry to see Mike – the mighty mouth of the band, as well as the mighty
steps dance wise) leave and go to Uni in September, but safe in knowing that
Joe and the guys will keep this baby growing as Renegade State are true warriors of metal and they need to continue
no matter what.
9½/10
Set List:
Insidious
Paradise Lost
Ordained
Unsuspecting Victim
Judgement Day
The Pit
Members:
Joe Pagan - Guitar
Mike Bradbury - Vocals
Tom Carr - Guitar
Phil Daw - Drums
Phill Berrington – Bass
******
Bury the
Conscious – Liverpool
Links:
Genre: Progressive
Metal with a chaos pad
Well to say I
was shocked was an understatement witnessing Luke and Matt O succumbing to the
scissors.
Matt O, Mike and Luke
Matt C, Mike and Luke
I was sure it
affected their performance last night as there was not the usual ripple of vibrancy,
especially from Luke as he stood for a lot of the time motionless and
expressionless, although Mike was indeed his usual self and gave a feisty performance
complete with zany expressions into the bargain.
Even Matt did not
seem his usual self which was hard to believe – maybe the heat was getting to
them I don’t know but something was definitely missing and not just the hair
either.
Mike mentioned
they were changing their name from Bury
the Conscious to ‘Vasquez’
now as he said their name sounded too much like ‘Bury the Fallen’ although I am
not sure whether he meant it or not, always hard to tell whether Mike is being
serious or not :D
The drumming
from Matt was however tight and precision led and Mike’s vocals certainly laid
down a good foundation for the music to flow and worked the chaos pad to its
limits. My favourite track from the set
was Reclaim the Crown Matt worked his magic into that on guitar and even Luke
became more ‘aware’ whilst playing that track so all was not lost.
They have
certainly come a long way since they played Helrazer in 2011 Mike especially as
he is no longer that timid character and grown in confidence on stage – be interesting
to see them play again and see if it was just the heat effecting performance
though, or are they like Samson – who lost his locks and his strength – we shall
see!
7/10
Set List:
Dr Evil
Ready the Machine
Age of Man
Mice
Serious lack of Gravitas
Reclaim the Crown
Members:
Mike Roberts: -
Lead Vocals
Matt (Beanz) Clynch: -
Drums
Matt O'Donnell: -
Guitar/Vocals
Luke Crowther: -
Bass
******
Black Cat Bones
– Liverpool
Links:
Genre: Southern
Rock
First time
seeing Black Cat Bones and they
really made their mark last night. The rhythms were rife and the sound powerful
and memorable. This was the band’s first debut gig as well which was even more
exceptional.
Rimmer, Jonnie, Lewii and Ash
Ash
Jay
Ash, Rimmer, Jonnie and Lewii
Rimmer, Jonnie, Lewii and Jay
Jonnie
The strong
catchy tunes just pumped out in succession with Jonnie being the star
attraction in his red bandana – he stood out a mile! As did Rimmer with the
most amazing long curly hair on guitar – Slash eat your heart out lol.
Considering it
was their debut together as a band there didn’t seem to be any nerves so to
speak of and each member of the band seemed to buzz off the atmosphere, stoking
the crowd to give rapturous applause at the end of each track.
Thoroughly
entertaining set packed full of punch, catchy, inspiring and delivered in a
laid back fashion that was appealing to all who attended.
9½/10
Set List:
One more time
Tomboy
Heartbreaker
Silverline
Nightrain - Cover
Members:
Ashley Janes - Drums
Alan Rimmer - Guitar
Jonnie Hodson – Vocals
Jay Lash – Bass
Lewii Deadlegs - Guitar
******
The Jeffrey
Uppercut – Widnes Liverpool
Links:
Genre:
Angry/Skinhead/Hard Core/Pissed
off/Punk/Bollocks
Not as much
banter with the crowd last night but can’t blame them as they concentrated on
putting together a ‘mad’ set for sure!
Azzy had to catch his breath a few times which was worrying as the heat
really got to him. He was literally
bathed in sweat from head to toe.
The Jeffrey Uppercut
Azzy did not
stay on stage but stayed in front of it singing to the crowd that formed a semi-circle
around the stage in almost blackness, as he prowled around, the circle became
larger and an evil pit formed – thankfully I had the mighty Phil Berrington of
Renegade State standing in front to shield me from the impending danger of
sweaty bodies being hurled in all directions.
Despite denting
a microphone the set went really well – the band who had been left on stage to
melt under the hazy stage lights went totally mental – I don’t know whether
that was due to the heat or the fact that they were just letting off steam but
it certainly worked – the audience were gobsmacked as Twigg set to work on his
guitar and Andy moved wildly around the stage in predatory mode.
Everyone really
enjoyed the set and not hard to see why.
9/10
Set List:
Streetlights
Tools
Dirty Bastard
That Bitch
Live Hard
Get the Fuck Out
Order to Disorder
Naïve
Cunt
Members:
Azzy - Vocals
Twigg - Guitar
Andy - Bass
Shaun - Drums
******
The Torn Prince
– Ormskirk
Links:
Genre: Progressive
Metal Core
It felt strange
not seeing the mighty Joe Barcass on stage with the band and Joe is sorely missed,
but The Torn Prince is not known for
sitting on their laurels and letting the grass grow under their feet that has
to be said, they have fought back and won.
Jakke, Chris and Ste
Chris, Jakke and Ste
Adam and Chris
It was not the
strongest set I have seen The Torn
Prince play but in this heat it’s hard to imagine anyone getting up and
playing especially under the flickering lights of the zanzi stage.
The Torn Prince had Ste Monaghan filling in on
bass and I personally thought he did an amazing job. The set was edgy and brutal and yet displayed
elegant tendencies too as Chris did a good job on vocals although last night
the sound seemed to be lost on a few tracks which was a shame really.
This Thirst,
Burnt Out and Se7en were superbly executed and always good to witness the band
live as they pump out their thumping rhythms and merciless riffing that was assaulting
and bold – will always love seeing TTP live and hoping that Joe will one day
come back up North for a guest appearance – now there’s a thing!
8½/10
Set list:
Intro
Paths
Presence of Absence
This Thirst
Burnt Out
A Man Apart
Se7en
Members:
Chris Moore - Vocals/Lead Guitar
Adam Gee - Rhythm Guitar
Ste Monaghan - Bass/Backing Vocals
Jakke Mawdsley - Drums
******
Templar –
Liverpool
Links:
Genre: Hard
Rock/Heavy Metal
First Seen on
the 13.12.12 at the Zanzibar but they were not as memorable then as they were
last night. Last night’s performance was truly outstanding as they really upped
their game adding Craig to the vocal.
Dave, Sam and Craig
Paul, and Dave
Dave, Sam, Jim and Craig
Paul, Sam, Craig and Jim
Craig sounded a
lot like Bruce Dickinson and has to be said Templar do have a Maidenesque quality about their tracks and not
that I am a big Maiden fan as such these days – but think Templar were alongside Maiden, if not better in delivery – their performance
was tight, strong and powerful.
Each member of
the band really put something special across to the crowd last night and it
showed. They went down extremely well! I
could have listened to them for much longer than just the 30 minutes they
played. They had that swagger about them
although not in a big headed way but a confident way.
The band made
sure their performance was impacting, engrossing and insatiably hungry –
literally like removing a pin from a hand grenade – explosive! Prowling around
the stage under the melting heat just added to their fuel injected set. They
chewed on the bones of savagery and unleashed a passionate, unyielding set that
was distinctive and created a monster with their thrilling brand of metal.
There wasn’t
one track I didn’t find mesmerising this time round and certainly looking
forward to seeing them play live again.
Definitely the
most outstanding band of the night
10/10
Set List:
Live by the Sword
Dead Space
Heritage
The Legacy
Lionheart
Members:
Craig "Miggy" Middlehurst - Vocals
Jim Pierce - Lead/Rhythm Guitar
Paul Kirby - Lead/Rhythm Guitar,
Sam Stanley - Bass Guitar
Dave V. Phillips - Drums.
******
Sa Da Ko –
Southport
Links:
Genre:
Melodic/Death/Groove
Despite it
being late on in the evening the heat just had not abated Sa Da Ko performed a great set full of groove that ate the crowd
alive.
Sa Da Ko
Sa Da Ko
Sa Da Ko
Sa Da Ko
The sweat was
literally running down Simo’s arm onto his guitar as his blistered through a
raucous set, scorching and inspiring the band lifted the wilting hearts of the
filth lickers that gathered around the stage and with sonic boom, boom, boom,
shake da room - devoured the set with a trail of destruction.
The Filth
Lickers were on form tonight although I never expected anything less – Jim’s
scathing vocals resonated around the zanzi and packed around some raucous
rhythms and beats courtesy of Gregzilla who had a new toy in the shape of a
drum pedal and gave it a good outing.
I was sorry
they never played ‘Red’ though although it is an old track now and as the band
have ‘Awakenings’ out obviously want to push that but would have been nice to
have heard Red again – it’s a track that I can play over and over and never get
bored of it.
9½/10
Set List:
Awakenings
28
Limit of resolution
Boom Shake the Room
Change My Fate
Marionettes
Filthlicker
Milwaukee Protocol
Void of the Black Planets
Forced Evolutionary Violence
Members:
Simo - Guitar/Vocals
Gregzilla - Drums
Alex - Bass
Carl - Guitar
Jim - Vocals
******
Thunderground –
Liverpool
Links:
Genre: Rock
Thunderground were the final band on at Metal
goes Mental and despite having to wait a long time to strut their stuff really
did a good set – although I never got to see it through to the very end but the
three tracks I heard were entertaining.
Adam, Mark and Josh
Adam
Mark and Josh
Mark
Mark and Josh
Adam, Mark and Josh
Nothing like Black Cat Bones though even though they
share the same genre – Thunderground
were less sleazy and more, clean cut but I still liked their sound and enjoyed
what I did see.
I always enjoy
seeing new bands I haven’t witnessed before, quite exciting and certainly Thunderground really did carve the
Zanzi up last night in their own way with some muscle bound tracks that had the
crowd dancing about and the people who weren’t dancing were foot tapping – hard
not to!
Mark Kimpton is
a strong front man with chiseled looks who really warms the audience up with a
smile – I was just gutted I could not stay till the end of their dynamic set –
but hopefully I will get another chance soon.
8½/10
Set List:
Roll the Dice
I can see right through you
Dirty Blonde
Lone Wolf
Hypocrisy
Whole lotta Rosie
Members:
Mark Kimpton - Vocals
Josh Carvel - Bass
Adam Kerbache - Guitar
Anthony Bates - Drums
A Thoroughly
enjoyable night with 8 amazing bands that all brought something different to
the table. A great diverse array of bands from rock to punk – progressive to
metal it was a truly memorable night.
A Big thanks to
Mike Hardy (Happy Metal Birthday) for
once again piecing together this brilliant metal puzzle. Thanks to Tony, Pat for sound and Vinnie for being first class barman. Thanks
to Gani for her good company and
friendship, David Purcell for
keeping both Gani and I company, Danny
from Reaper for his support, Sam Stanley for not only a first class
performance but for letting me molest his hair, (a very nice experience I must say) Richard and Danny Lash for
the good conversation, Chris Ryan for
taking some amazing pics, Pete Byrne always
good to see you Pete. Ian Cuzzy Laver
for taking time out to drop by and say hi before going over to M2tM to support Lazarus Syndrome (who sadly lost out to
Oceanis but well done to them. Big
thanks to Renegade State, Bury the
Conscious, Black Cat Bones, The Jeffrey Uppercut, The Torn Prince, Templar, Sa
Da Ko and Thunderground for some
truly great performances. Great night!
Me and Sam - Templar
*** NB Apologies for lack of photo's camera was acting up yet again
