Seether

Myspace describes Seether as ‘Alternative Metal’ which couldn’t be further from the truth. The urge people have to categorise music to unnecessary detail doesn't sit well with me but this particular case seemed a shame; a shame that Seether’s grunge roots weren’t recognised. With grunge taking a back seat in the tastes of the British, a decent band within the genre is a rare commodity. Pearl Jam have deviated somewhat from their long greasy roots and the only other band that springs to mind when the tight, clean cut sound of today’s rock scene becomes too much to bear is Seether.



Seether is shamelessly flogging that horse, however, and that’s what makes them so appealing. They fulfil all the stereotypes of long hair, suitably depressing lyrics and vocal style, and simple but well composed melodies. The crowd reacted very well to the lead singer Shaun Morgan who, in between songs, mumbled noncommittally into the microphone amidst frenzied cries of ‘I want your babies!’ and other crude, but ultimately flattering remarks. And this was before the music began. When it did, the crowd buzzed with excitement and relentlessly bounced off each other in a ritual of approval, stopping appreciatively when the music slowed and for the softer songs of the set. The crowd particularly loved the latest singles “Remedy” and “The Truth”.



What impressed me instantly was the band’s ability to hold their music together perfectly, and sing beautifully in the case of Shaun, while simultaneously projecting a sufficiently rock and roll image of tired, baggy jean wearing artists. This image had a slight psychopathic element to it due to the baby dolls and Christmas lights they had entangled with the microphone stands. ‘Hold their music together’ really doesn’t do them justice, however. It can’t be stressed enough how well they played and how obvious it was that they enjoyed doing so, displaying this enjoyment with regular bouts of head banging and a very American ‘yeah!’ screamed down the microphone.



What wasn’t so enjoyable about the show was the slow songs. Not because of the songs themselves but because of the way they were delivered. Seether insisted on starting every song with a slow progression of chords, or a drawn out indulgence in the strange noises Shaun could produce with his pedal. This was brilliant for the heavier songs because the kick in was unexpected and exiting, but when the songs didn’t kick in they felt unfulfilled as a result of the long, and sometimes pretentious, introductions. It is a huge shame because if these little indulgences were less frequent then it would have made them a lot more interesting and special.



Overall the show was very enjoyable from beginning to end and the deliverance of the heavier songs more than made up for the less thrilling slower ones. The show ended on a extremely good note when Shaun Morgan and Dale Stuart came back on the stage after a huge period of feedback to play an acoustic Alice in Chains song, which pleased the older members of the audience immensely, and Seether’s ‘Broken’ thankfully without the forced, nasal vocals of Evanescence’s Amy Lee.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.