Last Sunday at the Brudenell there was a little Christmas spirit in air, mainly due to the time of the year, but the Santa hat bobbing around the crowd and people heckling different Christmas songs helped. To bring an end to some people’s gig calendar Eras, Monster killed by laser, These Monsters and Humanfly invited people to come and watch them free of charge.
Eras were pitch perfect, their sound meticulously sculptured, they played bass heavy songs fringed with intermittent guitar solos and speaker reverb. Much like the other bands on the bill, sometimes they were so immersed in the music that you lost them. The band ended with high fives, showing the that the beads of sweats rolling down their faces were worth it.
Before the first of the Monster Killed By Laser even started, two rows of people walked down slowly from opposite sides of the room, like it was their calling. The floor was full, and out of the peripherals, all you could see was people nodding, which in large quantities appeared quite unnerving. The band performed a hypnotising set of progressive rock. Apart from submerging yourself in the music, there was the niggling feeling about the bassist’s hair, it stuck to his face and clouded his vision. The urge to brush it out of his face was quite distracting. The precision of the music was other worldly and the crowd were enjoying it so much they were tasting it.
If you were watching These Monsters, you might not have been prepared for what you were about to experience. The back and forth from lead singer Sam Pryor to the sound desk, provided the impression it would a performance that will stay well within the lines. Within about thirty seconds lead singer Sam impatiently tore his clothes off his body, as if he was allergic to them. He spat spoken lyrics onto the microphone frequently standing on one leg like a Flamingo. Eyes were all over lead singer Sam, throwing himself around the stage, like a rag doll before almost loosing his footing. His stage activity obviously wasn’t just tiring for the audience watch, but as his drinking fell from his mouth onto his guitar like a waterfall, it indicated he might need a little bit of a rest. But no, he was up on one leg, pretending to be bassist Ian talking to Santa about what he wanted for Christmas, causing the audience to crease up.
Last act HUMANFLY were supported by the biggest crowd of the night, including some familiar faces from Pulled Apart by Horses, and they probably gave them the most with some songs spanning up to six minutes. The large crowd, were loud and full of praise. The progressive songs, span through the room and the tracks, though long were absorbing. They finished and were pulled back through demand of an encore, that seemed to last over ten minutes. If work wasn’t round the corner, it probably might have been more appreciated.
