NIGHTLORD, SACK TRICK, CROWNING GLORY & FRACTURE PATTERN
LONDON UNDERWORLD 12/12/10
Fractured Pattern hail from London/Brighton, and open the evenings proceedings with their brand of 1980’s Punk, and slight hardcore tendencies. ‘I Can See You’ starts out promising then goes quite brash when the drumming kicks in, all of the 3-piece give vocals a go and are clearly having fun and are confident in their stagecraft. Newer tracks like ‘Bigger Picture’ invite the crowd to take part, but none so much as the cry for us in the sparse, if not, non-existent crowd to shout “Fuck You and the Horse You Ride”, not sure of the reference here, but clearly their travelling fans gladly joined in, even if the rest of the audience stood back from the main floor area. (PM)
I fully expected Crowning Glory to steal the show tonight, based on my previous live encounters with the band, but sadly that was not to be the case. The band have had some major line-up changes in recent times and now appear to be a mere shadow of their former selves. New vocalist Sabina certainly looks the part on stage but her vocals are no match for those of her predecessor Robert Alexander - but that is not the only issue. I remember the old Crowning Glory guitar duo playing as a team, interacting, duelling, full of energy but tonight that all seems to have evaporated. The main visual focus on the stage is bassist Al Riddell with the two guitarists seemingly unwilling to emerge from their shells. A cover of W.A.S.P.’s “I Wanna Be Somebody” proves unsuitable for Sabina’s voice and even the set finale, the honest to god classic that is “Sea Of Dead Dreams” feels limp and lifeless. A major disappointment. (CK)
Sack Trick turned out to be almost the complete opposite experience to Crowning Glory. I caught them live once, back in ’98, and didn’t like them at all. I remembered them being quirky and irritating and therefore expected nothing much tonight and indeed it took them a fair chunk of their set to wear down my prejudices. At first I struggled to get past the lobster hats, song titles about coloured ice cream and car crash collision of metal, ska, dance, rock and every other musical genre you’ve ever heard of and a few you haven’t. However the more of the set I took in the more stunned I was by the musical ability on display, the more monstrously good elements the eclectic songs threw up and the sheer exuberance of the band became infectious. A thundering cover of Kiss classic “Deuce” rounding things off superbly and completed my conversion to the cause. (CK)
It has been a combination of 21 years of sweat, pain and pleasure for these chaps to finally reform and get up on stage together. Nightlord never really made it past the demo stage in the early 1990’s; 17 years ago they went missing all together. Styled as most definitely British Thrash, they show tonight musicianship akin to the likes of Xentrix and Toranaga, the bass sound is phat and heavy, almost funky, a great thick meaty sound and the twin guitars, Ferenc on rhythm looks like he is having a ball and lead guitarist James McKenzie really knows how to handle the Les Paul, there is also a wonderful tine to the sound. Old classics from their first demo (‘Approaching Thunder’) like ‘The Reign’, ‘Power of Hate’ and ‘Vote for Me’ chug and groove along, even getting some of the crowd to sing along. Sometimes through the tracks I did wander a little bit, there is nothing wrong with the songs, they aren’t half epic/long! What you got was beautifully crafted arrangements and a really, I might even say, a perfect live sound in the Underworld. ‘Cult of the Moon’ never actually had an official release before their break up, but tonight ‘Dark Night Dance’ showed us what we missed, wonderful groove and a machine gun sound from the full compliment of instruments. Keep an eye out for these chaps, maybe more live shows in the future will appear, who knows, but they thoroughly outclass the rest of the bill and emerge as true headliners this evening. Make sure you check out the official re-issues, some out now, some out in the New Year. (PM)
Review by Chris Kee & Paul Maddison, photos by Paul Maddison
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