Atreyu, Nottingham Rock City
I turned up for this gig pretty early as I was very keen to see He Is Legend, and after hearing a few of their recordings, I was expecting some tunes to be boshed at me with screaming guitar lines and thumping drums. In this respect I was not disappointed, they did knock out song after song of ball busting rock that was more Slayer than punk rock, and they did it with some rib shattering force. But that doesn’t account for what seemed to be a bit of a bizarre set tonight because the only track I recognised being set closer “I am Hollywood”. For what was the heaviest music I’d heard in a while though (at least, before Norma Jean’s set…) there was the most bizarre front man I’d seen. Looking like Grizzly Adams, but dancing around like a camp Jim Morrison high on the green stuff, it was almost uncomfortable to watch, simply because the testosterone of the music was poo-pooed by the fluffiness of the frontman. Still, not a terrible performance, just an odd one. (6)
After a short wait I was greeted by Norma Jean. In true slack reviewing style I hadn’t bothered to check out any of their stuff before I went to the show, but I was told by a good friend to expect something heavy, and something heavy is what I got. With a storming show that consisted of some stack clambering and plenty of beatdowns, they were plenty heavy and plenty good, the stage show was energetic and they either brought their own light guy, or the in house light operator was a fan, because everything was perfectly in time and it added an extra 10% to an already busy performance. For hardcore with a metal edge or whatever, this was tops, and whilst I didn’t know much of Norma Jean before tonight, I get the feeling that I’m going to check out some more of their stuff, very, very soon. (8.5)
A long wait before Atreyu, and the floor filled with people who were getting as restless as I was. Coming onto the stage in total darkness, and then opening up with “bleeding mascara” in full force, the soundman/sound system let them down a little (Where was the lead guitar?) but they still fired through the track with the head nodding, toe tapping power they had intended to give it. But this was at the top of a very high musical peak right now, and someone had pushed it a little and forced it tumbling downhill like a washing machine down a stairwell. Because the highlights of the set were very early on (playing “the right side of the bed” 4 or 5 songs in seemed a bit shocking), and the members looked tired, the whole show started to drag. Atreyu weren’t tight tonight, and I’d hope they would be tighter on the rest of the tour, or many fans like myself) will be leaving before the very end of the set feeling disappointed, and wondering why Norma Jean didn’t headline…(5)
Lurch
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