Men Of Unitus, Nick Theodore, +.
The Angel/Roar Club, The Broadway,
Bedford.
Friday 4th November 2005.
Review by Craig Sharp.
(www.bedfordmetal.co.uk) Craig Sharp, reporting for Newsround.
This is raw, exciting talent right before our eyes and ears. We are being
treated. In a way, I didn't really think it would be any other way: the
promoters at the roar club nights (that had previously taken part at the Allen
Club) already had impressed me with the bands they put on (even if personally it
was a bit too NME for me... heck, even NME's only skinny tanned
photographer/paper-weight Andrew Kendall was seen at a few of those gigs... come
to think of it, I did see him leave the venue after this gig anyway...)
But yeah, I'm digressing...
With Black Wire pulling out 3 months ago and Havana Guns pulling out 3 days ago,
the line-up had a bit of a change and an extra band on. First up was... well, I
don't remember their name since it wasn't advertised and I was a tad drunk at
the time. We'll call them 'the first band' because
I'm tired. The First Band were quite good, they had their pub-rock/chillout
sound quite nailed, it must be said. Obviously though, this is always going to
lack energy when it comes to a live gig. They did add a good edge to their sound
with electronics and what not. I noticed their guitarist using a Korg Kaoss Pad
(these things look sexy and can do drum beats, delays, etc) and best of all;
they have lights on them and look amazing. Maybe it was my drunken state but
although they hadn't really made a mark on me, they got loads of respect for
having one of those bad boys on stage with them.
Next up was Nick Theodore, a kind of Bright Eyes-esque
emo acoustic thing. Not really what I'd go for normally but man can this guy
play! It was a shame that one of the next two bands had left their snare on near
the stage and constantly vibrated whenever he got loud (note to the promoters:
turn off snares during acoustic sets!) He hushed the audience into a confident
display of finger-picking guitar parts and melodic vocal lines. Possibly taking
a few influences/chord changes from Biffy Clyro on the way.
Then, just to destroy the whole 'aww' feeling Nick had created, Men
Of Unitus completely destroyed the place. Pints, punches, glass were
thrown and obviously, I've come to expect a bit of blood to be in there to, from
the Hertfordshire rockers. These guys are monsters. Seriously. Sykes is a
fucking madman. He is definitely from some under-developed horror film that was
in its developing stages in the 1980s before being abandoned because of the
director throwing an actress into a room full of chicken claws and many
allegations of rape made against him.
Put a picture of Sykes here. Right here.
Now:- Imagine him with an axe.
It's disturbingly easy to do. He's going to kill me. I swear. He'll kill me,
you, his band members and then rub his foot-blood into our hair. Well, he did
that to me anyway.
What always strikes me is how incredibly tight they are. It's just perfection,
you get a solid band of musicians punching out riffs from their guitars, a mad
man on parole (not in a pussy Pete Doherty way, either - Sykes is a murderer.
There's no real evidence for it, but he is a murderer), a drummer who provides
the solid intensity that allows the band to freeflow their riffs and a bassist
with a slight-mullet. Well, no band is perfect, but a few come close and
honestly, this has to be the best band on our local circuit. If you think your
pop-punk gigs have great crowd participation, wait till you see Sykes throw a
pint glass to the ground after downing it, take off his shoe, swing round,
release it into one of my friend's backs, jump on the remnants of the pint
glass, remove his sock, stamp on it, walk about with a mic stand, throw a p.a.
speaker, grab your whole body, throw you to the ground, rub his hand in his
bloody foot, and then rub his hand in your hair.
Maybe I'm sick but I actually really enjoyed it.
Don't judge me.
Anyway, after that, all energy had been suitably removed from my body. Yet I
could still do with some more. The Elephant Asylum had just the fix, sounding as
big and vast as their name suggests, they hammered into the crowd like a blind
goat on no legs, just wheels. Wheels with spikes. Unfortunately they got a bit
of hassle which kind of tainted the 'great atmosphere glasses' I was wearing but
it wasn't justified. Still, it's amazing what advice drunk people can offer
bands:-
"You are fucking shit"
Genius.
The Elephant Asylum had big shoes to fill after Men Of Unitus' performance and,
unfortunately, they didn't fill them. Although I doubt most could.
Overall, a great night.