As I squeezed myself into the packed venue and saw a fair few familiar faces all from different cliques and places it became apparent to me how overlooked TWOFOLD had been, for they were a band who?d been knocking round and knocking out records for years without ever really getting the amount of respect they deserved. At least a lot of people made the effort to see them tonight; perhaps too little too late may be a suitable proverb.
JETS VS SHARKS opened up proceedings and as it was my first experience of this band I didn?t really have a clue of what to expect. What I was treated to was a pleasant surprise; a young hardcore band sporting a metal influence but without the unfounded and pretentious arrogance that dogs so many of their peers. What struck me the most about this blistering south-coast outfit was the lead guitar work which bordered on the verge of spectacular. This is not to detract from the rest of the band however as they appeared to be a very poisonous unit overall, I?ll keep my ears pricked up for future aural delights.
Again, I was checking out the second band of the evening for the first time without so much as an inkling as to what to expect. THE DAUNTLESS ELITE blasted out what I guess you could refer to as straight up punk rock which seemed somewhat refreshing despite the conceptual simplicity of it. Their songs sounded massive and were delivered powerfully. You could assume it?s ballsy and grittily determined performances which have given the band the seemingly dedicated fan base that were present. As a result they were very well received and got the crowd pumped up suitably for the main act.
Before TWOFOLD played their set members of the band treated us to what seemed to be a GLC-esque rap parody. At first there were looks of confusion and bewilderment in the crowd but once the lyrical content of the impromptu performance reached the topics of Micro Machines and Liquid Gold those flummoxed expressions turned to ones of delirium; as it was hilarious!
When the band donned their more recognised personas and came onstage we were given a show that seemed half like a normal gig and half like ?an evening with??. Not that this was a bad thing as the informalness led to a very entertaining set, although how could it not be when maracas and other such percussion instruments were issued to crowd members sporadically throughout. TWOFOLD?s blend of thrash punk and hardcore has always served them well and we were treated to a large selection of material tonight in what was an energetic and captivating set. Considering I thought I had all their splits and last E.P there was only a small selection of songs played that I knew, however, the material I didn?t recognise was well executed and in turn, well received. They may be gone but TWOFOLD certainly won?t be forgotten for a long time.
-Mike