Violent Delight, with supporting acts Peanukle, New Road, and Borderline.

Esquires Level II, Bedford Saturday 8th June, 2002

"BORDERLINE": I've seen the good old Borderline many times and they never cease to impress me. Not at all being bitchy but for a while they always had the same old set over and over which wasn't a bad thing as it was a good set but after a while you started to think "I want something new" and just recently we have had a great new set, because in the recent months they have been a new Borderline - not just a new member but a new set and a fucking hell of a lot of stage presence, and new songs which impress me all the time. Not only do I think Borderline should have been higher up - I think that if 'Violent Delight' deserve to be signed, then Borderline sure as hell do. The front man Joe Henley had such an energetic vocal styling tonight and seems so enthusiastic and happy with everything coming from the band, he built up the stage presence immensely. Although Bill Rider has been seen as "an extra bloke" I think tonight he was very impressive, and although he was a bit still throughout the gig, his guitar work was very good. On his first gig I thought he didn't do a lot, but after tonight and the last few gigs I realised I was so wrong, and even though he is overlooked - like Danny the drummer, they both do very good jobs and are very important, adding a lot to the band. I think that Borderline are very bright stars of the Bedford scene and have the experience and talent to go a lot further, - Good luck guys.

"NEW ROAD": I've seen New Road a few times and at first I thought they were a bit boring with all the songs sounding samey and also a bit plain, but tonight they seemed to have improved a lot. They varied their approach a lot, with some ska and some hardcore punk songs. Their own version of a pop song was great. The vocals are strong and all the instruments mix together well in my opinion, but still sometimes lack stage presence, if they move about a little more and try to have a bit of friendship with the crowd, then they could fast become one of the most popular bands around.

"PEANUKLE": Now as for Peanukle. It was another amazing charasmatic night as it has been with the last few gigs, "I've seen them many times before, and ill see them many more"(ok bad Peanukle pun I know). They have had a lot of experience and now they have a lot more songs - also a lot more fans after tonight! This set had such great stage presence, they got on so well with the crowd. They played very popular old songs of theirs perfected in every way, which went down well with the crowd, at least 20 people were winging along to catch the chorus's to the new songs which were just as good, if not better than the old songs and I was happy to see BEANS and MAGNESIUM (The brass section)playing along in every song which thickend the texture a lot and went down perfectly with the crowd. All I can say is - evrything was perfectomondo for Peanukle tonight and they deserve every good comment they get and I hope one day I can see them playing at the jubilee and making millions happy instead of some dribbely stuttering pop star ahem....Gareth.

"VIOLENT DELIGHT": Well what else can I say, I was so overwhelmed when I heard this band but when I turned around I saw no one but a few metal heads there, I was very disapointed that all the punk crowd left the gig because of a metal band, it gave Bedford a bad image if you ask me. Before I heard the band, I was told of them having an arrogant approach, but when they started to play I didn't hear any arogence - what I do hear is a fucking amazing band, they had a very catchy tune and it didn't seem to metallic, some of the songs reminded me of Amen, because it was a heavy punky type spund but some of their songs had a nu-metal sound and some even an 80's metal sound! Their singer was fucking good, with a very good, controlled scream and very good, clear, fast, rythmic vocals; the guitars were heavy but had a very tuneful approach! The bass didn't follow the guitar and stood out, even though the drums were just basic beats they held the music together and stopped it being too heavey and gave it a more of a punky and energetic approach, if you get the chance - see them! They are amazing and deserve to be signed. All I can say is http://www.violentdelight.com This is my review and it may suck but seriously every band tonight are all worthy headliners and all deserve to be seen and loved by you, they are all future talents and deserve recognition.

Review by Goody the Great.