Here's the last of the old gig reviews because the effort of adding them separately was too much. I've not even bothered to clean up the formatting or spelling errors.
Probably only of interested to people who went to rock gigs in Mansfield in 2001-2001.
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Galloping Knob Rott
Wednesday 14th February 2001 somewhere in Nottingham
Having been invited that day, and suffered some random confusion over buses, I got to this college gig, with four bands playing. While 3 of the 4 were interesting, I was there to see one band: the unstoppable, incurable *GALLOPING KNOB ROTT!*
Having heard the first recordings from their demo, I was looking forward to seeing them perform. Having seen various members in bands before, I knew I was going to be entertained.
Taking the stage with a blow up doll named Tanya (or Dave's mum, or both), the band crashed into a slab of stoner rock they call 'State Of Mind' I was instantly impressed. The drum 'n' bass breakdown in the middle is far too good. 'The Wild Oats Farm' is one of the best songs you'll hear this year, coming on like the bastard son of Incubus and Primus, and being excessively funky.
The rhythm section are just amazing. Dave is just a great bassist, something he never got to show in his old indie band Epic. Rich is one of the best drummers I've heard in some time, mixing more traditional rock beats with some nice fast drum 'n' bass. Will is just a great frontman, and while the crowd weren't too active he still got a response, reinflating Tanya and grooving like a deranged monkey on crack.
And what can be said about their last song? Will took over on guitar as Steve, by now very drunk, took the mic. This was their 'special' song for Valentine's Day. A love song? Maybe not. More an amusing song. To give you an idea, all I'm going to say is 'pussy'. And they don't mean cats.
All in all, a fine gig!
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Felony 7 and Miscast
2 March 2001
Sir John Cockle pub, Mansfield
Felony 7 burst onto the stage with their usual enthusiasm, the bassist performing some quite spectacular punk rock jumps as the band played their set of Blink 182 type pop-punk with style. Sam's drumming seems to get better every time I see them, putting his own fills into the covers and impressing on the bands own material. "Sooner Than Later" is fast becoming my favourite Felony 7 track, despite my love of their brilliant "Ballad Of Britney Spears". Indeed, they play their snippet of "Baby One More Time" beforehand. "Take A Side" is another great song, and I couldn't help but be amused at their song about tuning guitars, based on their Battle Of The Bands experience. While the backing vocals left a little to be desired tonight, Felony 7 are quickly becoming the areas best punk band.
Miscast have been around for a long time, but looked a little rusty tonight since they've done few gigs in the last year, having taken time out to record in London. However, Dave's skills as a frontman seem to have improved, and guitarist Lee was as precise as ever, his backing vocals having developed well. A few songs in and they were back on top form, cranking out their quality indie tunes like "Room With A View" and "Electric Chemistry". Sadly I had to leave halfway through their set, but while the crowd was more subdued than Felony 7's it looked as if they had won over a few new fans.
While the Cockle is hardly the best venue in the world, the crowd that came out to see them was an encouraging sign of the growing "real" music scene in Mansfield.
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Setback, Acetone Theory, Element
4th March 2001 town mill
The first night of the apparently regular 'Wired' night at the Town Mill (replacing the old rock night) proved promising, judging by the big turnout. They will need to keep putting bands on to justify the £2.50 door price, but the level of organisation (and indeed promotion) seemed to suggest a level of professionalism.
So, onto the first band, Leicester's Setback. Sadly, the reaction to their brand of old school punk was generally negative. The singer made an excellent frontman, combining the 'mad staring eyes' look of Johnny Rotten with the kind of vocals the punk bands of the early 80s would have killed for. Their own material was solid, if a little unoriginal, but their cover of The Exploited's "Cop Cars" showed that they have the talent to pull off this genre with ease. They were certainly very tight, despite the new guitarist not knowing all of their songs yet. A promising start under their new name (they were called UK Menace until recently), and a nice set of blokes.
Acetone Theory impressed from the beginning. Hailing from Grantham, their set of rap-infused nu-metal was good enough to put the likes of Papa Roach to shame. The bassist seemed to be the driving force of the band, grinding out riffs with ease while the guitarist added harmonic melodies to the singer's excellent voice. A cover of Cypress Hill's "Ain't Goin' Out Like That" started the mosh pit, their own material was strong enough to keep up the pace, and soon there was a full blown mosh in session!
Which left Element with a hard act to follow. But follow they did. Currently being hailed as one of the best metal bands in Nottingham (bearing in mind that earthtone9 and Pitchshifter are part of the same scene), Element have the kind of confidence that comes with knowing how good you are. In drummer Ashton and bassist Dave Whitewood they have one of the best rhythm sections around, and guitarist's Neil and Ian cranked out some frankly mosh-tastic riffs. Singer Luke has a great growl on him, but doesn't communicate with the crowd much, preferring to let the music do the talking. This band will surely go places.
A great start to this hopefully regular night.
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Own Worst Enemy/Crawl Town Mill 18/3/2001
Having missed Undecided due to a slight timing (drinking) error, I walked in to the sound of Own Worst Enemy starting their set. Almost immediately they impressed me, their tribal rhythms and disturbing bass lines reminiscent of the likes of Neurosis and Will Haven. They have elements of their sound taken from both the stoner rock and hardcore scenes too, creating a slow, crushing noise that made me smile like the first time I heard Kyuss. They through in a cover of 'Hard Times' by the Cro-Mags too! If you like your music slow and very VERY heavy, Own Worst Enemy are highly recommended.
All of which left Crawl with an uphill struggle. They were visually more impressive than the others; their singer Helen and guitarist Rev have more than enough stage presence to make up for their bassist's lack of movement, and indeed more stage presence than most of the big American bands. But when faced with the task of following music as powerful as Own Worst Enemy they seemed a little less impressive. Helen has an amazing voice, making the rest of the female nu-metal pack look like whining children. She can growl with the best of them, and whack out a powerful actual singing voice too. The rest of the band are clearly great musicians, and tighter than Bruce Dickinson's trousers. Their music is a mix of various nu-metal bands, and while solid stuff it didn't excite in the way some of Nottingham's other bands like Element are capable of. They certainly split audience opinion, with some people coming away mightily impressed while others seemed underwhelmed. Certainly great to see, but while their music is ok they have the potential to do much better. Ones to watch.
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8/4/2001
Town Mill
Five Knuckle and The Pokers
A night of punk was never going to be a great success in Mansfield. Sure, there's a punk scene, but it's very small, dominated by the larger metal scene. It didn't help that there was a gig at the Brown Cow the night before, and Less Than Jake had played Rock City. And it was the beer festival. Have I made my point yet? A very small turnout.
Five Knuckle didn't care how small or unresponsive the crowd were. They knocked out a set full of slabs of raging hardcore with ska and metal influences, the bassist clearly loving just being onstage. I detected a hint of Rancid's Tim Armstrong in the vocal delivery. A minor broken string incident was handled well, the bassist taking the mic to ramble some nonsense and confuse Mansfield with Worcester. A very tight and actually quite good band, sadly playing to the wrong audience.
The Pokers appear to have been in a bunker since 1977. This was punk so old school is should probably be knocked down (not unlike Sherwood Hall). Apart from the occasional splash of Dead Kennedy's inspired guitar noise, The Pokers did little to excite. The bassist's brothel creepers and the frontman's Elvis style moves didn't really help much. In the late 70's people would have lined up to see this band. In the 21st century they seem a little redundant. Not terrible, just a bit pointless. The kind of band you should hear when much more drunk.
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15/4/2001
Town Mill
Felony7 and Element
Some strange goings on at the Town Mill this week, with the old DJ unceremoniously sacked (taking several regulars with him) and half of Felony7's young fans thrown out without refund.
Felony7 played a surprisingly short set, missing their usual cover of 'Faith' due to time restrictions. Due to their missing fans there was only mild audience reaction (customary at the Town Mill in recent weeks), but despite this they played fast and accurate. Melv's guitar was lost in the mix somewhere, and Sam's usual hard-hitting beats were muddied in similar fashion. An unfortunate gig for a brilliant band.
Element appeared on the bill at the last minute to replace GKR, who were suffering from 'drummer at work' type problems. Element and GKR share a bassist in the ever-talented Dave Whitewood, but the similarities end there. Element are a nu-metal band, with the usual Tool/Deftones/Machine Head type influences. They are, however, very good at it. The band are energetic onstage, with the unfortunate exception of singer Luke. While he has a great voice, it seems he needs a more responsive crowd to really shine as a frontman. But then that would open the whole chicken/egg argument: does the band make the audience move or do the audience make the band move? A little work on his confidence is needed. Good stuff anyway.
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20/4/2001
Sir John Cockle
Very much a case of last minute preparation tonight, with Jack It Up Jenny having been drafted in at the last minute and Tinsletown Rebellion borrowing Sam from Felony 7 on drums.
Jack It Up Jenny
I hadn't heard much about Jack It Up Jenny other than that they were a punk band, apparently. Not a terrible description on reflection, but if we're going to pigeonhole, grunge would be the genre. Steve Dobson's vocals are similar in style to Gavin Rossdale from Bush, which suited most of their material. They played a few Nirvana songs, 'Give' by Cold and 'London's Burning' by the Clash as well as a few of their own, Steve's general anger shining through in his performance. Andrew Dobson from Soul~Down was on guitar and backing vocals, handling the material very well, and the rhythm section were quite tight. Considering the strength of their own material it's only a matter of time before they play a set full of their stuff.
Tinsletown Rebellion
Why Tinsletown Rebellion aren't rich yet I'm not sure. If they were American and lived in California, they'd probably be touring with the Deftones or something. However, they're English and live in Sutton. Unlucky. Anyway, as usual they played a fine set, Sam's drumming being particularly good considering the fact he'd only practiced with them once! Their singer has the perfect voice for their style and Ellis would give any nu-metal guitarist a run for their money. I've still got the riff from 'The Crack's As Good As The Smack' stuck in my head! Former Fumb Duck bassist Pepperday was invited onstage to sing on a few RATM tracks, and then it all went a little odd. They asked if anyone knew 'Ashes To Ashes' by Faith No More. Some bloke came onstage, took the microphone, shouted some obscenity then threw it to the ground. I'm informed he received a beating for his troubles: don't mess with Tinsletown Rebellion! A few more covers appeared, ending with 'Killing In The Name', much to the delight of the masses. An impressive Friday night's work.
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Town Mill 22/4/2001
Idiot Box
Idiot Box are from Bradford. This does not bode well, since Terrorvision are also from Bradford. However, Idiot Box are by contrast quite good. They mix up riffs in the style of Fugazi, Therapy? and Helmet with a little more punk rawness in such away that no two songs sound the same. One minute it's odd time signatures and stop-start rhythms, the next it's straight ahead punk rock. And they did a cover of 'Pure & Simple' by that pop group I'd rather not mention. Which was funny. In a way. But otherwise a damn fine set which should be of interest to anyone with an ear to the underground.
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6/5/2001
Town Mill
Somebody tell me where the audience went? Looks like this could be the end for the Town Mill's rock night. Oh well...
Tenebrae
Wow, it's Carcass! Even their opening cover of a Machine Head track sounded a bit like Carcass! Their vocals are the raspy 'demonic possession' type you find in all good death metal bands, the guitars have more treble than an international darts champion and the drums are a constant rumble of old school blastbeats. If you've ever liked death metal, you'd like the nostalgia trip that is Tenebrae. However, music has moved on a little since 1991. Not bad, just slightly outdated. Good cover of Slayer's 'Angel Of Death' too!
Soul~Down
It would probably be fair to class Sutton's Soul~Down as Nu-metal. All the usual influences are in check (Deftones, Incubus, Tool etc), the guitars downtuned and double bass drum pedal in place. So how do they make it sound different? I'm not quite sure myself, but I suspect it's the other, more subtle influences that make the difference. All of Soul~Down are great musicians. I've seen drummers drool over the stuff that this fella manages, and singer Andrew has a versatile voice, shifting from a fine singing voice to a powerful growl in a heartbeat. They pull out a Faith No More cover and a couple of Deftones tracks, but their own material like 'Fake God' and 'Beauty' is actually a lot more interesting. Check 'em out.
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18/5/2001
Evoke w/ Restraint @ The Brown Cow
...and so 'Wired' night continues at it's new home, the Cown Brow. Quite a large audience tonight considering the lack of promotion and the extreme nature of the headliners.
Restraint
Restraint look incredibly young. However, their singer sounds like he's been smoking 50 a day for the last 30 years: incredibly gruff from such a young fella. This band have a definite stoner rock vibe, kinda like Fu Manchu or old Cathedral, with a really thick guitar sound. The drummer looked slightly confused, but the guitarist seemed confident, playing some very impressive riffs. Could do with a little more stage presence to involve the audience, but worth checking out if you enjoy the likes of Queens Of The Stone Age or Fu Manchu.
Evoke
Evoke are heavy. Heavier than nu-metal. Heavier than black metal. Heavy like early Sepultura and Slayer. But maybe a little bit heavier. I had wondered how they'd go down tonight, but since there's a large contingent at the Cow who like Slayer and Cradle Of Filth a painful mosh was quickly started. Incredibly fast drumming, faster guitar lines and note perfect musicianship. Fool as cuck, as they say on planet Spoonerism.
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Friday 8th June 2001
Brown Cow
Fubar/Known Joke
Known Joke
Known Joke are 3 Year 10 kids from Sutton. Their set was filled with pop punky stuff along the lines of Green Day and Blink 182, and a Foo Fighters song. Their own songs were performed much better than the covers, and show potential. They're still young and learning their instruments, but they were enthusiastic and clearly just happy to be there. The bassist (i forget his name, check out the website) appears competent enough, and is showing sign of being a very good frontman. One year down the line would could have rivals for Felony 7…
[Known Joke’s members all swapped instruments and because a very good band some time after this. They were probably older than 10, but they did look very young]
Fubar
I'd been told many things about Fubar, but wasn't expecting them to be as good as they were. Elements of hardcore and ska float around in their sound to create infectious tunes that started one of the biggest moshes I've ever seen at the Cow. They really fed off the crowd reaction, playing a blinder of a set. Highly recommended to all lovers of punk in its many forms.
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10th June 2001
Town Mill
Scratch Face/Undecided/Joshua's Tuma
Joshua's Tuma
Tonight the Tuma battled against a dodgy mix and guitar lead issues. A little unsuccessfully. I've seen Joshua's Tuma play some amazing gigs, but they didn't quite manage it tonight. Chall's vocals were barely audible, his excellent lyrics lost in the mix. It looked about to fall apart a few times but was held together by Mike's frankly cool drumming. The cover of 'Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny' became the highlight, but Tuma's own material is much better than most people give it credit for. A better mix and a few more of their own fans and this would have been a decent Tuma set. Get the demo to me fellas!
Undecided
In stark contrast, I don't think I've seen Undecided on better form! Frontman Dave and guitarist Sam worked the small Town Mill pit well. Dave's vocals keep getting better and better, the emotion in the lyrics shining through well tonight. Sam and Luis are probably the best guitar pair in Mansfield right now, the structure of the songs giving them both a chance to show off their skills, while never seeming out of place. Undecided mix up many styles to create songs which never sound like anyone else (except their cover of '7 Words' by the Deftones, obviously), and Dave switches between his emotive croon and violent growl only when appropriate for the song. Everything about Undecided makes me wonder why they aren't rich yet! They have a little label interest at the moment, so good luck with that!
Scratch Face
Scratch Face take all the best bits of nu-metal and spit them out in a way which impressed most of the crowd. Marko's vocals are far more intense than most of the American competition, to the point where you feel what he means even when the words are unclear. The music seems to take the slightly dubious influences of Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park and marries them effectively to the ideas of The Deftones, Machine Head and a few stoner rock and hardcore bands, creating a moshable noise. The DJ seems yet to find his place in the band, but used sparingly he never sounded out of place. This bodes well for the Mansfield scene. The small town isolation makes for some pissed off music. More please!
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Brown Cow
23rd June 2001
One More Sin
I wasn't going to review tonight's gig, since I've already reviewed Scratch Face and Undecided recently, and it's rather hard to review Calista when I'm in the band. But One More Sin, tonight's organisers, impressed me so much that I've woken up on a Sunday morning to write their review!
One More Sin are the result of a years worth of planning. I met bassist Luke and guitarist Shane about this time last year when Luke had pink hair and both were plotting a band. I wasn't sure what to expect but the results are impressive. A mix a several influences, including the likes of Tool, Nirvana ans Silverchair (whose 'Roses' is covered here), One More Sin manage to take the ideas and cause them to swirl around in a bizarre 60's psychedelic way. This is cool. The band look amazing, Shane with his mad-looking Japanese guitar, Luke on a six string bass for most of the night and singer Louise looking rather odd, vocally and visually a mix of Jessika from Jack Off Jill and a post-singing-lesson Courtney Love. Drummer Shaun (Sean? I dunno the spelling) pounded out tribal sounding rhythms behind his lilac kit. Somehow Shane managed to make my effects (borrowed off me for the night) sound better than I've ever been able to, the heavy parts sounding really heavy and the quiet parts sounding very strange. His playing style is actually similar to Adam Jones from Tool, with intricate melodies exchanged for brute force on a regular basis in songs. The riffing is very 'grunge' however. Luke's bass playing is quite original, and he exploits the six strings he has to work with.
For a first gig, this was a revelation. Their playing is very 'together', but retains a jam-room looseness. Louise lacks confidence but this will grow with gigs. Luke and Shane looked delighted to get their band gigging at last. I for one look forward to hearing more from them. If you like your music chilled out but with heaviness involved, or if you like the idea of Tool and Silverchair's bastard child, or if you just like 'recreational cigarettes', you'll love One More Sin.
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one more sin date unknown, probably from an all dayer, looks unfinished, file date 6/8/2001
found: Sat - 28/7/2001 Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts The New Cross Tinsletown Rebellion, Soul~Down, Jack It Up Jenny, Bodiesel, 2ft Dogg, Scratchface, Undecided, Calista, One More Sin, Felony 7
One More Sin opened the day's insanity with their odd blend of Tool, Nirvana and general weirdness. Their material is excellent, and they threw in a new song, but the crowd saved their energy for later acts, showing their appreciation in clap form. This was their forth gig, and already they are gaining in confidence.
2ft Dogg
This band are heavy in every sense of the word. Their riffs are huge, their basslines hard and their singer big and angry. People banged their heads in response, and murmurs around the room suggested that the masses were impressed with 2ft Dogg.
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Own Worst Enemy and Element @ The Village, Mansfield date missing, file date 5/4/2002
This was apparently the second of the Village's new Breeze Block nights, and it seems to have taken off quite well, drawing a respectable crowd. Nothing to do with Liquid nicking all their regulars then...
Element were the second band on (missed Churn, mostly coz they weren't advertised on the flyers), and started well, causing an early moshpit. Their songs are well suited to moshing, the Deftones/Machine Head type riffs ideal for bouncing around to. They seem to have written a load of new songs since I last saw them, but the formula is the same: pained vocals, noisy nu-metal riffage, lots of fast double bass drum action and the odd bit of slap bass. The boys are still hoping to get signed, but they'd better hope it happens soon. It's only so long before the nu-metal bubble bursts (Nottingham's Earthtone9 being recent victims), and so far only Lostprophets have managed to make it from these shores. Element are good, but with only one truly great song (it's on the demo, can't remember it's name, but hey, I do this for free!) they're going to have to work harder.
I spent ages after writing my first review of Own Worst Enemy trying to work out what they sounded like. These days, the Will Haven influence is obvious, albeit mixed with a little more hardcore, possibly something to do with their (relatively) new second guitarist. The singer is still as furious as ever, looking like he's about to have an aneurysm, and songs like '100% Proof' are genuinely memorable, but apart from a few people swaying at the front, the crowd seemed a little disinterested in their slow style. If you like Will Haven, you'll probably be into what OWE do, but if you prefer your heaviness a little faster, look elsewhere.
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Nooch and Tenebrae, Town Mill, 11/7/2002
Been a while since I've been in the Mill, but the new stage is exactly what the place needed. At last, Mansfield has a proper venue.
Anyway, music.
Tenebrae first Mansfield gig in while was dampened by a muddy mix. The kind of technical metal that they play needs a clear sound, with more treble, but the mix was all bass. Still, they managed to pull a decent set out of the bag, and seem to have progressed a little since they last played here. The old school thrash elements are there, Carcass and Slayer being two sources of inspiration, but now they have something new to play with. The new songs have a New York hardcore style groove to them, almost like Sick Of It All with metal solos. A few tracks even had a bit of a White Zombie vibe, which was nice. While much of the crowd looked a little confused by the whole thing, not used to such things in these dark days of pop-punk and nu-metal, there were a few people down the front banging their heads in appreciation, and by the end their entertaining stage presence (the old 'fuck the crowd, lets go mental!' approach) was enough to win over this crowd. Whether the kids will go out and buy 'Heartwork' or 'Reign In Blood' now remains to be seen.
Nooch worship at the temple of Cavalera. They've borrowed liberally from Soulfly and Sepultura, from bits of riffs to whole slogans, which can't be a bad thing in my book. For once they actually played their cover of Sepultura's 'Roots Bloody Roots' properly, which pleased the mosh that had developed. There's also bits of Machine Head in there, and a 'borrowed' Staind riff. Original, no, but good, well, they're pretty good. This was the third time I'd seen them, and the best they've played to my knowledge, despite bassist Dawson feeling light-headedness (his words, not mine). Nooch are one of those bands that like to go apeshit on stage too, the singer keeping that 'I'm going to eat your children' look in his eyes throughout while the rest threw themselves around. If Nooch set out to make decent tunes to mosh to, then they have succeeded. Fair play to ‘em.
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These Were His Last Words + Awkward Thought, Town Mill 14/7/2002
These Were His Last Words have been gigging a lot lately, and it seems to have paid off. The band have progressed a lot, and sound tight and confident, rather than loose and terrified. Luke's voice still needs some work, but he's an entertaining enough frontman to get away with it. Choi and Ry's guitar parts bounce off each other nicely, in true post-hardcore style, almost like The Get-Up Kids jamming on Fugazi songs (although not quite that good yet). Drummer Mike is really good, although I think he's itching for the guitarists to use their overdrive pedals a little more so he can go apeshit. Burbles has matured nicely into a solid bassit, which is good because the mix that night was very 'bass'. Red Envelope (the opener) was probably their most impressive song, although Choi's random guitar noise at the end seemed to turn more heads than the whole set. Mansfield is not an Emo town. These Were His Last Words don't really care.
Awkward Thought are a hardcore band from New York. If you've ever heard any NYHC you'll know exactly what they sound like, since all the bands, with a few exceptions (well, Sick Of It All), sound the same. No offence to people who like NYHC but most of it is generic with no imagination .Some red flags: Guitarist wearing a T-Shirt with a 'white power' type skinhead on the front; posters for the UK tour with Winston Churchill shooting an arab; them signing said poster 'HAIL ENGLAND'; some dubious stage comment about Germans. They treated the support band like shit, even throwing TWHLW's distortion pedals off the stage and refusing to talk to them. I know hardcore bands don't like emo bands, but that's just rude. Awkward Thought talk about unity and positivity. All I could see was hypocrisy.
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