Imicus, Triggerbox, Ardent Kicks.

Club 85, Hitchin.

Saturday 24th June 2005.

By Lil Tron.

It's been a while since I've been across the road to Hitchin, but after all the hype about Imicus and this evening album launch I have to give it a go.
Before we get to that though, we have the support bands.
First band of the night Ardent Kicks are a very late addition to the lineup, apparently only added in the last couple of days due to a cancellation. However they soon make the stage their own, clearly used to using the abundant stage that Club 85 has to offer. Their songs are tight, and well-played - coming across somewhere between emo and a more straight ahead rock sound. The band appears to be held together by a talented female bass player who, as well as carrying the songs musically, also mouths along to the songs and proves to be another personality for the vocalist to bounce off of throughout their show. Which brings me to the vocalist, who for me was unfortunately the weak link. He seemed a little unsure of himself, which could have been down to hay fever which has been a thorn in the side of quite a few vocalists this summer, so I won't hold it against him as he did show a lot of promise - however he does need to work on his stage show, as he seemed to spend most of the show dancing like a chicken, which for me took away from the seriousness of the music. Overall though, I was quite impressed and their set closer showed a variation in their music that most bands are missing.

When Triggerbox took the stage I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The three-piece walked onto the stage looking like they had walked straight out of 'Deliverance' and the drummer sat down behind a kit with what looked like a Casio keyboard attached to it. Then they started to play and it all made sense, if sense is what you can call it! Let me get one thing straight here, this band are amazing - every now and again a band appears and changes the way you see music, and this band are gonna be one of those. They come across somewhere between 'The Presidents Of The United States' and 'Kid Rock' and so much more to boot. Trust me, check these guys out live while you still can, as they have just signed a deal and in 6 months will be everywhere you look.

Which left only the band of the night, Imicus. The hype machine has been rolling non stop on this band since they recruited their new vocalist and guitarist from Luton based band 'Dilate', and with an album to sell tonight off of the back of offloading 1000 copies of taster single 'Breathe' there is a lot to live up to. And they get close I'll start with the bad, to get it out of the way, and then explain why I think they'll get there. Their vocalist tonight appears to be struggling, which may be from the dreaded hay fever, or because of so much studio time recently, but at times it affects the impact of certain songs. And as a unit, you can tell they're still finding their feet together. No matter the caliber of musicians involved, it always takes maybe 10 gigs or so for a band to hit a groove and learn to share a stage together - and these guys aren't quite there yet. The songs aren't as tight as I'm sure they would like them, and for some reason the bassist seems to be the focal point of the group, which is an odd dynamic. However, in time all this will change - they have a vocalist who, when back on form, will break hearts and faces in equal measure with his mixture of tender vocals and brutal screams. And they have a lead guitarist who was built for big stages, with solos and poses to match. And then we get to the songs - there's nothing new here but what we do have is effectively a 'Metallica' for a new generation. A big metal sound, with good hooks and well played solos.
Give them time, and a bit of luck, and these boys could go far.

Review by Lil tron www.bedfordmetal.co.uk