Monmon and Round Window @ Packhorse, 21st April

After finding out about the Monmon show a week ago the amount of time I spent listening to the tracks on their website gradually increased up till the 21st. There was something about the basslines and the lead guitar which played together so compatitively. At first I only listened to the track 'Whale', because it was the first on the list and it sounded damn good. After a couple of days I started giving the other tracks some time and.. dammnnn. I like his voice a lot, kind of raspy but clean at the same time, and the drum beats are simple and steady. A nice range of paces and vibes.

Anyway, I got to the Packhorse towards the end of Round window's set. I felt a little out of place because the majority of the crowd seemed in their 30s (don't get offended if I'm wrong, I'm not good at judging ages). After awkwardly dipping myself in and out of the crowd I managed to find a cave at the back and posted up. At first I thought 'uh-oh, Dad rock' - a judgement purely based on appearance rather than musical prowess. However into their second last song I realised these guys weren't playing covers of the Rolling Stones or Prince (thank fuck) but were playing some pretty decent originals. Their sound was somewhere in the indie/alt rock realm of things, simple yet effective riffs with a 90s-esque, feel-good kind of vibe. Sucks I only made it for the last 3 songs though, they seemed to be having a really good time.

Round window.. a view from the back. Nice hat

I went outside to rest my feet, I thought it would be safe enough to sit on the ledge opposite the pub as Otley-runners would be drawn towards either the bright glowing lights of Mahmoods or the comforting drunken yelling emanating from the Packhorse. I was so comfortable that I decided to lie down. Big mistake, I forgot how much drunk girls like to sit on my face. I suddenly heard some familiar student drawls of "oh ho, he looks fooked", and "why is he lieing down??". Then I hear "Lets sit on his face!", and suddenly some random girl has her panties hovering an inch from my nose. I didn't know whether to lift my tongue or yell. Can't a man lie on the street without having to think about sex for just 5 minutes? I was doing so well too..

Anyway, Monmon came on when I got back, the crowd wasn't too thick, probably around 30 people or so meaning I was more or less free to do what I wanted up at the front. Their first song wasn't that great to be honest, the lyrics were a bit cheesy, I'm not sure what it was called but it sounded kind of different to the songs I'd heard on their website. After that hump however they started playing some really awesome songs, both off and on the website. As a band they are really talented, extremely well co-ordinated and the guitar and bass work together to make great harmonies. One song I really like is "Roofie", the intro starts out heavy and grungey, the chorus lifts it up into the light temporarily and then the verse throws it back in the dirt. There was one slight dissappointment, the drummer didn't bother doing the catchy half-beat skippy thing at various points in the song but oh well, his call I guess. The bass lines were one thing that struck me, really solid and quite dark, at points complex but really easy to follow at the same time. Monkeyfist and Leeds Brig are good examples of this. I can't remember what song they thought they were ending on but we managed to yell them the fuck back on for another one, and thank god, they played Whale. I couldnt help but laugh to myself, it was the most perfect way for them to end it. I really suggest listening to that song on their site, the intro is so sick - the eerie wailing guitar which fades into rising and falling bassline, counterbalanced by a slow simple drum beat. The lyrics too… its good for swaying. All in all they are a sick band, 3 instruments is all they need to get their point across and I like that. Nothing too fancy, just straight up good music.

Listen to:
Round Window

Monmon

A sliver of silver...

Pale Man Made, The Union Choir and Blood Oranges @ Packhorse, 14th May

Went to the Packhorse for a show on the 14th, tried calling some people up but thankfully no-one responded so I went on my own. I wasn't really feeling like hanging out with people I know, I wanted to simply be alone and listen to some music, so it's quite contradictory for me to have called people up but it was more like a polite thing to do so if anyone got upset I could at least say "yeah but I called you up"... real sneaky. I've noticed how there seems to be a stigma regarding going to shows alone - as if it were a waste of time or just a strange thing for a person to do, but some of the best shows I've seen were when I was alone. Take Birthmark or example. No unneccessary need to start conversations, no uneasiness about whether or not your friends are having a good time, just simply enjoying the music and doing whatever you feel like doing... Don't take me wrong, its awesome to see a band with friends, but sometimes it's nice to have the band all to yourself.

The bands were fuckin sick that night. The lineup included 2 bands from Newcastle (Pale Man Made, The Union Choir) and a band of local students (Blood Oranges).
Pale Man Made was probably my favourite performance of the evening, I showed up around halfway through their set. Their sound was kind of indie mixed with some lo-fi elements, so at times it was upbeat and at others quite emotional. Their sound actually at times reminded me of my ex-girlfriend. Not really a particular memory as such, but just a really strong feeling - you know what I mean? Don't mean to sound depressing, thats just how I felt at the time. They had a really experienced sound, I could tell they'd been playing for a while, and the bassists fingers were so damn stretchy.. I bet she could palm a basketball as if it were an apple. Pretty much every song was amazing, it just sucked I didn't know any of the words because they would've been so fun to sing along to. I pictured being on a big 60s dancefloor with everyone just swaying and spinning around. But I was at a live show so I had to be content just bouncing around a bit. The guy and girl singing took turns, the girl sounded really mellow and warm, the guy was more edgy and loud, so they blended together nicely. I ended up buying their old album - check it out if you get the chance, its pretty sick. Quite melancholy, their set seemed quite lively in comparison, I think they were playing a lot of their newer stuff.

I met a dude named Aaron after that set, real funny guy just gettin drunk and yelling stupid shit at the bands and gettin them hyped. Shows need more people like him, it definitely eases any awkward tension.

Union choir came on next, Aaron made a pretty accurate judgement about the band after the first 30 seconds, that all the additional instruments (the cello, the violin and sax) were there just for show. For the first 3 songs that was definitely the case, with most of the emphasis being put on the guitar, bass and keyboard, but as their set progressed their songs gradually improved and each instrument played more of a noticebale role.. Except for the cello - which kinda sucked to be honest. A nice deep cello note would have been perfect for some songs. I think her pick ups weren't working great that night. The band was more melodical than Pale Man, and the singers voice seemed a bit exaggerated at times. Overall it was alright. There were a couple of moments where the harmony between instruments really hit me deep, but overall Pale Man was more for me.

Blood oranges came on last, they all got on stage and from the moment the lead singer/peter griffin lookalike started speaking I just felt so happy. They all radiated really positive energy and it came through in their music. It was the funnest set of the night, if not the funnest I've had since seeing Reverend Peyton or The Afternoon Gents. They came on wearing pictures of the dudes from BLU around their necks, in honor of their glorious performance at the eurovision contest, and the lead singer was funny as fuck. Their sound was of indie-pop bordering pop-punk, really upbeat, quite fast paced and to do with love, relationships and stuff like that. The girl on keyboard had a cool voice, cutesy but not sickly, it complemented the guy's voice really well. The fact that the singing was shared between genders gave a much deeper meaning to each song, like a story being told from either perspective of an ending relationship. The bassist was pretty cool, stuck to simple riffs which was perfect for their music - I respect bassists that can do that, whenever I play I often get really bored and try to get all technical and just end up fucking it up. She was also pretty sexy. The drumming was intense, reallllly fast and really on time, like pop punk with 2 extra beats per second. Towards the end they handed round some fruity champagne to comemorate their boys BLU, that was pretty awesome.. I was pretty dehydrated so it went to my head pretty quick.

Awesome show, I was getting stir-crazy from revising and sick of watching porn out of boredom so seeing these bands was exactly what I needed... Pale man and Blood oranges do shows quite often so check them out if you get the chance!

Myspaces
Pale Man Made
The Union Choir
Blood Oranges

Valhalla Pacifists, Murder of Crows, Post Fata Resurgo & The Afternoon Gentlemen @ The Packhorse: Jan 27th

I'd been hyping up the Post Fata Resurgo/Murder of Crows/Valhalla Pacifist show at the Packhorse for more than a week, so when the 27th finally arrived I was brimming. I'd invited some friends to come with me so I was pretty hyped, normally I go to shows alone because most people aren't really down for it. I've never heard any metal live, so I was pretty intrigued as to how it would turn out. I'd been listening to Valhalla Pacifists stuff a shitload too so I was pretty excited to see them, some messy hardcore was exactly what I needed. I was just yearning to be able to think 'FUCK IT' and run headfirst into a sweaty, thrashing pit. Ever since my first hardcore show I've found myself craving it at times, the stress and boredom of living just gets to me and shows are one of the best outlets of frustration... along with skating and wanking (to an extent).

So unsurprisingly, most of the dudes I'd planned on going with couldnt make it because they were too baked and lazy, so it was just me and my homie Chris, which is always spell for a good time. We got there a bit late due to having to wait for the dudes who couldn't make it, and to my dismay we fuckin missed Valhalla pacifists!! Such a bummer. Anyway, we got there in time for Bristol trio Murder of Crows. Straight away I started feeling a bit intimidated, I guess partly because I was wearing a bright blue Maps and Atlases band shirt beneath my hoodie, and majority of the crowd was in a black, metal band shirt. But after a while I stopped caring and focussed on the music. MoC were pretty heavy, super fast drum beats and some messy raw vocals, the bass hit hard too.. I liked that. To be honest I'm not that into metal, I guess I find it harder to dance to because there isn't as significant a breakdown as there is in hardcore, so its a bit hard to keep with the beat.. It could just be in the way I move, as i try to follow the drums as closely as possible, and trust me.. it was fuckin hard with murder of crows (and post fata), that drummer was insanely fast. The crowd was alright, I was hoping for a pit but I guess the exhilaration wasn't high enough at that point. 
(** It turns out MoC are not really metal, more grindcore/punk, but I don't really know how to classify bands anymore, so I'll just stick with what I know)

 After MoC, Post Fata Resurgo (from Italy) came on. The band had a similar pace/sound to MoC, except with more complex riffs and vocals. It was awesome to see a foreign band playing, although they may not have had as welcoming a reception as back home, the crowd was definitely appreciative of their music. I came to England with a preconception that everyone was ignorant of other cultures and extremely discriminant (from bad past experiences), but the more I experience the more I've come to understand that that is a really unwise and short-sighted way to think, as the people (and the music scene) in Leeds are some of the most welcoming I have seen.

Post Fata

 

The last band, who weren't mentioned until the last minute, were a group of local dudes called The Afternoon Gentlemen, who, as accurately pointed out again by Chris, appeared very "civilian". But fuck that, the moment they hit the speakers I knew they were the real deal. The fastest beats of the night. Screaming, wrenching vocals, and disorientating guitars.... gaaaahh FUCK I needed that so bad, the pit was nuts right from the first song. I got in for the first bit, but I pussied out a little after I was shouldered in the forehead with a metal stud, so I hung around the peripherals of the circle whilst Chris got in the pit. It got me pretty hyped to see him in there, he's a folk-boy, so to see him enjoying himself at a grindcore show was awesome. There was something preventing me from getting in the pit, some invisible barrier which was filling my head with fear of getting hurt, fear of falling down. Towards the end though, I couldn't contain myself and my naiive pussyfooting.. I had to get in there. They announced their last song, and that was by far the best song of the night. I completely lost it, and I'm pretty sure a lot of other people did too. Every smashing cymbal and slicing screaaaam coming from the singer’s voice hit me so deep, I was spinning in circles, falling to the ground, being hurled back up by unknown arms, falling back down again. I felt so fuckin alive. Fuck pussying out, I pussy out of a lot of things like that and I just end up feeling stupid. To be completely unaware of your actions but know that everyone is there to help you out.. thats awesome.

The whole time I was there I never got a stink eye or any judgmental comments. It further proved to me that I can't judge people solely on their appearance, and more often than not, the people you least expect to be friendly are relaxed as fuck. I know its a pretty rudimentary life lesson, but as much as people like to think they know it, they really don't. I've seen so many "open" people throw down the most judgmental comments on people who look remotely different. Its pathetic.

Hardcore/metal/loud fuckin shows aren't as bad as people might think they are. Its just the idea of experiencing something completely foreign and out of the comfort zone which prevents people from trying it. And that feeling of satisfaction, pure unadulterated satisfaction (not to mention a killlller falafel sandwich) which follows, is incomparable. It always leaves me in a pretty philosophical and mellow mood..

I was recommended a website by a dude from Valhalla Pacifists, its about the hardcore/metal/emo etc. scene in Northern UK.

http://www.collective-zine.co.uk/cboard/ - Check it out if your interested in seeing some shows!

Here are the band's myspaces that played

www.myspace.com/postfata

www.myspace.com/amurderofcrowsbristol

http://www.myspace.com/vxp

I’ll upload some photos too – at a couple of points some dudes tried building a human pyramid. Pretty funny, especially when it all fell down into a mini pile-up. Gooood times!

Afternoon Gents

The pyramid - killer butt cracks!

Beards, Nope and In Zaire @ The Packhorse. 14th January, 2011.

My farts have been pretty disgusting over the past few days, the intensity of the stench is really out of character. Pretty eggy, but theres something so pungent deep within the abyss of stink and I just can't put my finger on it... They are so bad that the when I was skating through uni with my friend Chris before the Beards/Nope/In Zaire show, he could smell them when riding about 10 meters behind me. He seemed pretty impressed though so maybe it's not something to be ashamed of after all. I was a little nervous getting into the Packhorse though, but we were there pretty early so I had some time to let a few out before the crowd got any thicker... Strategic farts can be quite challenging, I guess that's one reason to look forward to getting older, it'd be nice to fart on demand like my dad, its a pretty awesome ice-breaker at parties.

Anyway, after I cut one of the biggest farts of the night, Beards started getting ready for their set. It was my second time to see them, the first being at the Birthmark gig, and it's always nice to hear songs I recognise, that way I can get a bit more technical with my moves... And being able to sing a line or two definitely ups my cred on the underground knowledge scale, all you posers can suck it!!

Just kidding.. They started off with spinning coin, the only song I could recognise, and it definitely got the show off to a good start. The Packhorse is a perfect venue for the band, because the close-proximity really gives you a better understanding of the efforts each member puts in to their music. At the Brudenell I was kind of far away, but this time I could see the sweat on their foreheads and feel the fast pace of their breathing. And best of all, I had no fart alarms! I was kinda bummed they didn't play So de do de ku, but it's no big deal. One thing I've come to realise about Beards is that they are a performance band. Their recordings definitely don't give justice to how epic they are live. Check their fuckin myspace already! See that? They've got two shows in February, GET ON THAT SHIT.

After a bit of a break, three-piece 'Nope' got set up and ready to play. After a somewhat slow/building intro song, they started getting into it, the guitarist playing and looping riffs which seemed quite simplistic, something most people could think of in a jam session. However, the addition of another drum set (and drummer) definitely brings the intensity of their sound up. I was drifting in and out of conscious thinking throughout the set, at times getting completely entranced by the repetitiveness of it all. It’s like I became so used to hearing a certain rhythm that it just became engrained in my system, and my body would start to move without me telling it. I found myself pinching my chest at one point, not really sure how my hand ended up there. The climaxes weren't as epic as I'd expected them to be, but seeing as the entire set was one song it made a lot more sense in the long-run. And then it ended. It seemed to take a few moments for people to come-to... I'm not even sure how long they played for, it could’ve been up to 20 minutes.. I have no fuckin idea really. A pretty unique experience for sure.

Then came on 'In Zaire', fortunately most of the building fart pressure had subsided during/after Nope so I had less to worry about. The set up was a typical drum, bass and guitar, and instead of a usual mic set, the frontman had some synth system linked up to the guitar and bass. I could tell after the first minute that this band was in a more left-field spectrum, with an almost experimental jazz beat at times, as if the members were slowly but surely finding the beat amongst themselves. It got pretty hectic at the points of climax; the band definitely used the amps to their full potential. I think overall, the band wasn’t as great as the other two before it, but their performance left me in a strange state of… profundity. I would’ve gladly stood staring into space after they left their instruments had my friend not tapped my shoulder. There was one point where the singer shoved a small microphone into his mouth, blowing and screaming into it, creating a really distant yet magnificent sound. I think part of the fun of going to shows like these though, is that I have little to no idea what to expect from most artists, so there's always an element of hit-and-miss, but I like most bands I hear live so maybe I'm not the best person to judge.

Overall, it was definitely worth it, I was a bit disconcerted at first because I could have easily gone home and revised, but fuck it I’d already paid my 4 pounds. My emotions have been up and down these days anyway so a show is always a good way to take my thoughts elsewhere. To sum it up, Chris made a pretty accurate observation; it was a pretty drum-orientated night. In my opinion all 4 drummers killed it; it got me pretty hyped to skate afterwards. There’s nothing like bombing down Royal Park Road with your ears still ringing from the volume and your sphincters sighing after a much needed fart…

Check out their myspaces:

• www.myspace.com/beards2000
• http://www.myspace.com/nopeleeds
• http://www.myspace.com/inzaire

-Ben