Route 215, Highbury Garage, London
*This show was at the Buffalo Bar, Highbury*
Deck Cheese launch shows have become synonymous with free entry and to an extent, free alcohol, fortunately tonight was no exception. As a result spirits were high in the packed Buffalo Bar as two of the labels more recent additions showcased new material. First off, Preston’s FAILSAFE hit the tiny stage and being a fairly big band they did well to fit on it, let alone pull off such an energetic performance. It’s been about a year since I saw this lot last and judging from what they played tonight they have appeared to have dropped most of their ska/reggae influence which I found a shame as the one reggae tinged track they did play was, for me, the highlight of the set. The songs they did play however were far from being shite; heavy riffs meandered between forceful vocals with RxBandit-style guitar licks mixing things up. The best thing about their performance tonight however, was how tight they were – I cannot stress this enough, perhaps one of the tightest sets I’ve seen this year, what makes it better is that they were so full of verve and enthusiasm and generally seemed more than happy to be playing. I’d predict a bright future for FAILSAFE, a very bright future indeed.
Regular readers of the site need no introduction as to who ROUTE 215 are. Those who haven’t seen the band play for a while will be in for a surprise when you see them next as, well, they’ve had a mild change of musical direction. Dirty, filthy rock is the order of the day and God do 215 dish it up well. The material they played was largely taken from their forthcoming album ‘Shock ‘em Dead’ with only two tracks from ‘Steal your Soul’ making an appearance. Guitarist, Ryan, handles a lot more of the vocal duties these days and more than competently manages which, in turn, allows Rod more freedom on stage which is when he shines – tonight he was pouring Jagermeister down the throats of the crowd mid-set which was quite tame by his normal standards but it is this type of debauchery combined with the most un-PC stage banter between songs which is why 215’s live show is becoming almost legendary; they simply just don’t give a fuck. That’s not to say they can’t play, because they can and better than most; a faultless and beefed up cover of THIN LIZZY’S ‘Jailbreak’ and Sean’s guitar work on most songs proves this only to well. Tonight was not the best I’ve seen them perform but they still had energy and an entertainment factor most bands would kill for. They’re rude, they’re filthy and generally offensive and they don’t care, in my eyes this makes them more punk, or more rock ‘n’ roll, than most bands doing the circuit right now. Who else could really get away with calling a song ‘Sixteen Cunts’ or referring to Jesus as sexy in a chorus? The 215 behemoth is ‘rife’ and will no doubt be heading your way over the summer; you’d be a fool to miss out.
-Mike
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