64 Favouex Street, Excelsior Hotel 17/10/2008
Line Up features Atomicide, Blackie (from the Hard Ons), Chris Haskett and Devine Electric.
Friday Night at the Excelsior Hotel and the front bar was just packed enough for me to elbow my way around the chairs without causing any unnecessary harm. I came late and arrived a few hours after the doors opened and could hear the thump and crash of wood colliding bluntly against galvanized steel from down the street that told me tonight's entertainment was in full swing. It was still too early for any self-respecting head-banger or punk to get into it and from observing the happy patrons in the bar there wasn’t a shred of ripped denim in sight. I guessed none of them were here to see the bands furiously pulverizing stick in the back room and were content to sit on the stools so just by being close to the noise enhanced an image of coolness. The crowd past the ticket desk was visibly different than the ones outside it, altogether hairier, heavier and leatherier, quite a few bearded bikers and trash babes occupied the main floor or perched on a stool politely staring at the racket on stage. I hadn't heard any of the bands on the line up before but Chris Haskett from Rollins Band gave me some idea what to expect and I later felt rewarded for making the effort to show up that evening.
At first I assumed Atomicide were just another local garage group here to support the headline act but gave everyone a solid show like a hit to the solar plexus. Songs like “Woman I adore”, “TV tried to kill me” and “Cancer” reminded me of 1995's post-grunge, a mangle between the fast bits of Offspring and Foo Fighters with shades of Dead Kennedies. Though they looked like an evil double of the John Butler Trio, the boys in Atomicide still managed a few jokes between bursts of hard playing. Friends and fans in the audience applauded when they hammered through “Ace of Base” for the encore and I felt this was one band who had not forgotten their roots.
The last act to come on was the oddly titled Devine Electric who managed to steal what was left of the show judging from the amount of girls and lip-gloss now falling around the stage and the pelvic thrusts of the groups more seasoned members (Ivor and Zino), perhaps to the displeasure of the more hardcore contingent in the audience . Devine Electric clearly takes it's inspiration from the ironic cock rock of QOTSA and Turbonegro from the other side of the Atlantic and borrow a few chunky licks from British metal gods Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. The fact that the paunch front man ('Shark') resembled both Jack Black and Dom Joly from UK's hit series Trigger Happy as he wailed and tornadoed around the tiny stage gave the show a charisma that most bands fail to impress. For anyone who likes live show that's a bit kitsch and their 80s metal stripped raw, check them out.
www.myspace.com/atomicide Spectrum 8 November
Really Long Link 22 Bayswater Kings Cross 30 October
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