Coheed And Cambria / Madina Lake / Fightstar / Circa Survive

Things kick off tonight with Circa Survive and their long slow sound reminiscent of the 'White Pony' era of the Deftones, inspired by the Mars Volta/At The Drive In with a hint of 30 Seconds To Mars. The band use delayed guitars to their full effect to create a huge sound and sporadic moments of aural pleasure.



The problem however is that they drag on for too long and don't actually go anywhere in particular. If they could harness the powerful parts they can obviously achieve then this band would be immense, but at the moment they are too few and far between.

And so we go into another boring and seamlessly endless wait for our next hit of the good stuff. But alas it ends too soon.

Next up we have Fightstar, and love them or hate them after a slightly shakey start by the second song '99' the levels are sorted out and the sound pretty fucking good. They really should stick to the '99' / 'We Apologise For Nothing' style sound though as their attempts at metal are very immature.



Also someone needs to tell them that it is not cool to throw the horns anymore! That and saying "Fuck!" a lot does not a metal band make. As much as Fightstar may be ridiculed though, they do obviously have their place. For many kids they will be the band that opens their minds to rock and metal.

Though I suspect they will never get the kudos and respect they so desire from the metal community. If they could step away from this they could be such a better band. Overall on the night though, a respectable performance showing great potential.

Then it's onto the band I was looking forward to the least this evening; Madina Lake. They didn't fail to disappoint me. Like an eighties pop inspired car crash they took to the stage... bad hair and all.



To give them their dues, they are tight and the performance very polished. Though a little too polished. So polished in fact it's a joke. There's just no passion; no soul. It's music by numbers pushing all the right trend buttons and leaving a sour taste behind of a severe lack of substance. It's been done a million times before and done a hell of a lot better.

I wanted to love Coheed And Cambria's set. I really did. The band are tight and even the most technical solo played practically perfect. It is ruined by the sampling though. There is so much sampling it makes you wonder how much is actually being played live.



I have seen Coheed And Cambria before and they were amazing and with little noticeable sampling. But when there four capable vocalists on stage each with their own microphone, only Claudio Sanchez appears to be singing and there are multi-layered vocals coming through the PA, it ruins the whole experience. Whether through laziness or perfectionism neither can be excused. I want to see the band play live, flaws and all. If I wanted the perfect performance I would listen to the CD. So pull your fingers out boys and get back to playing some of the best goddamn rock music being played today.

FUTURE GIGS

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