Hiding With Girls, Manchester Roadhouse
Of the two bands playing tonight I don’t know which one I was more excited to be seeing. Label buddies, and surely by now good friends, Hollywood Ending and Hiding With Girls have been doing the rounds together both in search of new fans to increase their album sales. 2 energetic bands, a big crowd, both with a lot to prove, one with a home town crowd behind them and both acts I admire a lot. All the ingredients for a good night out.
So without an opening act, 9pm saw HOLLYWOOD ENDING take to the stage. I have mentioned this before in their E.P review, but any band that can start a performance with a song as good as “You To Myself” will hold a crowd, probably for a lot longer than the time they are onstage. It’s just such an incredible song, particularly with the chugging bass line at the start, and the way Usman, Ben and Adam work the vocals across the front means the variation, in not just this track, but all their songs works really well. It’s obvious to me, bassist Adam Watson is the bands icon. He owns centre stage and parades round with his low-slung guitar and climbs the front barrier/speaker stacks, gazing into the crowd. By the end of the set tonight, the vocals of all three members began to get a little sloppy, but the power and energy they release as the crowd got more in to the performance makes up for it, and I would much rather see a band drop their standards slightly but go the extra mile, than be tight and boring as hell. Top class performance from a band I tip to go very far in 2005. (9)
Next to the stage where HIDING WITH GIRLS. These boys definitely know how to get the party going, and with the crowd on their side, they proceed to rip through a set list of songs compiled from their new album, “The Torino Scale.” Hiding With Girls were a lot more impressive than I had imagined, and they really know how to move on stage, plenty of shapes being thrown and guitars being hurled around. Vocalist Leander, really works the crowd well and his voice is an interesting combination with this brand of music. Things work well when he screams, but the band haven’t allowed themselves to fall into the trap of allowing this to drive their music too much, and maintain a great deal of restraint over their powerful riffs and forceful drumming. My main disappointment was their decision to leave out “The Stars Cascade” but the other tracks they played, notably new single, “Take Your Eyes Off The Blade,” were all superb. (9)
After the show the bands hang out with the fans and sign a few autographs round the merch table, where shockingly enough, Hiding With Girls have not been able to increase sales of their branded female under wear… As for me, I couldn’t. I’m saving my money to buy both bands new albums.
Pete
www.hollywood-ending.com
www.hidingwithgirls.com
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