CARNIVORE & RAGING SPEEDHORN
I swore there was no chance I was going to enter a shopping centre over the festive period. Damn putting a gig on in one made me break that rule and I was greeted by a bunch of kids probably aged about 12 gobbing on people from the upstairs section. The night actually didn’t get much better and my notes end with the words, “One of the worst gigs in a long time,” oh dear.
Back a few hours to the pub and I was shocked to find out the gig was actually at the small Bar Academy (capacity approx 250) rather than the larger venue. This was a bit of a surprise seeing as Carnivore have actually headlined Wacken, I had expected this to be quite a popular show. Not intentionally name dropping but as we were having a beer with Luke from Panic Cell who I had at last intended to catch for the 1st time, I was also peeved to hear that due to the tiny size of the stage they had been pulled from the bill.
Dodging spit and emo kids who were there for the show in the main venue, a band called Kill Hannah (who out of perverse interest I have just checked out on MySpace and now have aids of the ears) I joined a queue of about 30 braving the cold an hour after doors were due to open. Luckily the ever prepared Polish contingent had a bottle of warming vodka with them.
The venue was pretty busy for the main group but before them we had rent a support band ‘Raging Speedhorn.’ This lot have always had fantastic management and have been getting shows for years, often with bands that are not suited to them in the slightest (they were once bottled off at a Ministry show by virtually everyone in the audience). Its not that the Corby bruisers are bad or anything but they are just a bit on the generic and boring side, however last album I heard ‘How The Great Have Fallen’ wasn’t too bad and it was only fair to give them a 2nd (actually 7th or 8th) chance.
Well I will say one thing for them, they certainly put on one hell of an energetic show, even if most of the audience thus far comprised of Eastern Europeans, arms folded in complete disregard. With loads of them cramming the tiny stage it was inevitable that monitors were going to be kicked off as the muscularly flew into things. The vocal trade offs from singers John and Bloody Kev were as enthusiastic as the rest of the band who paced about looking like trapped animals on the tiny stage. I think one number was dedicated to the person who ripped them off 20K, sure there was plenty of anger here but 5-6 songs was enough for me. Perhaps they should have gone downstairs and supported Kill Hannah after this; that would have caused some very wet knickers.
Speaking of which, next up was Pete Steele and his lesser known band Carnivore. I am not saying they sucked (ok many said that Type O Negative did at their last London show), I simply think the odds were stacked against them. They had Paris and Zurich shows cancelled for reasons undisclosed and Manchester due to the promoter going AWOL. Then to top it all they play in this venue lacking in both any atmosphere and no doubt listening to the chaotic noise, the PA necessary for the performance. Oh there was absolutely no room for any ‘blood girls’ to wobble their wares either so the visual aspects were dampened.
Mind you the band seemed energised as they romped into the pussy eating feast of title track ‘Carnivore.’ Well they had come on played some riffs and disco music and gone off again in the first instance. Joey Z and Paul Bento on guitar and Steve Tobin on drums were all covered in claret along with Mr Steele, who certainly wasn’t spending this show sitting down. Thanks to the kind people on the front barrier (1 foot from the stage) I was able to take some quick snaps and noted that the lyrics to the songs were being read by Pete from a stand, well I guess it’s been 20 years since they were written.
Musically and certainly with the projected sound, their songs came across as pretty damn primitive with their barbarian wrath, but with numbers like ‘Male Supremacy’ I guess that was to be expected. Frankly it was all a bit of a mess, drum solos staggered like a drunken tramp rolling down the street with Pete’s hefty bellows being totally drowned in the mix. ‘Helter Skelter’ was vomited out like the Beatles on ketamine and a burst of ‘Dazed And Confused’ certainly summed up what I was feeling
There was time to throw some samples from the legendary R .Lee Ermey ‘Full Metal Jacket rant before the full metal jerkoffs came back on stage for an encore dressed in butchers smocks. Culminating in ‘Sex and Violence’ this unfulfilling performance had given neither a satisfying clout or an orgasm but then again that’s the nature of rock n’ roll kids.
Pete Woods
ISLINGTON BAR ACADEMY 15/12/07