White Line Diaries, Imicus, Laterala, Rough Justice.

Club 85 Hitchin. Saturday 25th April 2015.

Ed: Continuing with a range of Out of town venue gig reviews Martin Stapleton reviews a few bands from the Bedford Circuit at the rather recommended live music venue in Hitchin.

Tonight, I and BAM editor Keith Keeef made one of our occasional but always very enjoyable visits to Hitchin Club 85. To say our journey to and from the venue was fraught with surprises, is somewhat of an understatement, it has to say the least rather eventful, once inside Hitchin’s finest where the security staff smile rather than snarl, we are treated to nearly three hours of top class rock orientated sounds, I admit come principally to support Laterala, but feel the evening is to be remembered ultimately by a quite moving and magnificent final ever gig by IMICUS. Through their various line up changes, vocalist and frontman Miller has been a constant and dynamic force. This has led to festival appearances at Download, Bloodstock and Bulldog Bash amongst others. As a Bedford based fan I have seen Imicus on many occasions. The first was at the Bedrock Festival in June 2006, while I can also remember them blasting out the Esquires bar on a hot Sunday afternoon in July 2007. The Bedford public in general has been sadly very negative about Imicus, which in my humble opinion is a damn shame. This was encapsulated a few weeks ago when only a trickle of people bothered to turn up and watch them play at Esquires. Then as per usual, they put on a quality show with no short cuts or half hearted efforts. Their output of material has been considerable and in the past, this Luton based band had a recording deal with Transend Records with the surprising but amicable split up of the band, Imicus have gone out with a typically charismatic bang by releasing their final album entitled Turbulent Skies (Review). Needless to say it’s both class in both sound and presentation, as ever it is mixed and mastered by the legendary Russ Russell. So what of their final ever performance at this, one of their favourite venues? Surprisingly in my view, Imicus are not headlining, because judging by the surge to the front its they who have brought most of the crowd, together with a very lively and vibrant atmosphere. Selecting their final set list must have been hard and difficult, so many songs steeped in memories that unfortunately had to be culled for this all to short thirty five minute slot. With Miller obviously getting all the viewing eyes, the rest of the band skilfully utilise their talents, Al Hutton, and Mat Turnbull on guitars, Brad Beach steady with his bass (musically but furiously playing live – Ed.) and Ant Cardinal furiously active with his sticks! Of course Miller even in his warm room is still wrapped up in his familiar jacket, stocky with short black hair; he laps up the attention that he is receiving from those keen fans at the front. At times they sing in conjoined harmony. Miller deftly whizzes around, sparking seismic energy to and from the crowd, prowling around constantly, a small slightly cheeky grin is never far away from his face. The time for a change may be ripe for Imicus but they are most certainly going to leave us with a performance to remember, in a set choc full of highlights, my personal choice is when they unleash The Libertine, last years single, it opens the album and Miller in opening the song, thanks Scuzz TV for giving it an airing. Finally when the set does draw to a close, there is a loud and emotional outpouring of applause from everyone present. Hugs, handshakes and back slapping happens on stage with the five smiling musicians. Sadly now for Imicus, the pendulum has stopped!

Preceding Imicus are Bedfordshire’s LATERALA. Its early days but I certainly like what I hear and see. Its my second helping of this rock fused five piece, having witnessed them at the recent ‘Metal To The Masses’ heat in Luton. In an evening that is full of testosterone male fuelled dominance vocalist Stef is a real tonic. Her voice and face show raw emotive passion all through this most impressive set. She scores highly with both rage and range. When the song demands a primal guttural outburst it gets it and dovetails brilliantly with the pummelling drumwork and forceful guitar bashing.
Laterala exude serrated riffs and brutal rhythms with some truly chunktastic breakdowns. It seems to hold everyone’s attention and they get a more than generous response at their closure. Laterala deserved it!

Opening the evening are ROUGH JUSTICE. They are four mean and moody leather encased rockers, who offer some catchy bold and ballsy tunes. Very heavy on riffs and certainly most pleasant on the ear. On this long ‘widescreen’ stage they demonstrate their most active presence, this is fully shown on all their set especially Champagne And Hard Whisky, and Fuel The Fire, a full on bravado spirit ensures a good start to my evening.

Headlining are Hitchin’s own WHITE LINE DIARIES, who play to a half empty room. Many people leave after Imicus and they probably made the right choice, as apart from a most rousing performance of The Huntress, WLD offered some fairly standard bland rock morsels. It’s fair to say in some way they rather gatecrashed the party. With more highs than lows, this was a most enjoyable night in Hitchin and was presented by Musical Sin Promotions.

Review by Martin Stapleton.