At The Drive-In @ Cockpit
By Dave SugdenI never intended writing a review of this gig, especially as most of you were probably there anyway. But here goes ...
Opening were a band that was in my opinion absolutely terrible. They occasionally sang, but when they did they were out of tune - to the extent of it hurting and causing many around me to cringe. Even shouting, in a lo-fi sense too, should have an element of a melody or key. Ugh. Musically, yeah I could go with it, sort of off-beat alternative effects, imaginative at times. The one issue I had with their music was that their solos, riffs and main melodies were all based around that simple bass-run you learn when you first pick up a guitar.
Sorry, didn't like this lot, who for future reference were called FUTURE ADVENTURE. To sum it up they ended with, "Come and see us again, we may be better!" which got the response, "You couldn't be any fucking worse!"
Next up were a band at the other end of the scale, as these guys rocked big time. By "these guys" I mean MURDER CITY DEVILS, a mixture of early 70's punk with a 60's styled organ - sort of "punkabilly". This US band (from Euclid, OH if the T-shirt worn by the vocalist is to be believed) certainly impressed most of the people in a now seriously packed venue. My tip for the week, if you get the chance, go and see this band - apparently they also kicked ass in Manchester earlier on this week.
Next up were the band everyone was here for. AT THE DRIVE-IN are still relatively unknown, but word-of-mouth and a storming Leeds festival set meant that they filled the 500-capacity Cockpit; just before the start of the set I made my way across from right to left to get to the toilets in the Rocket. The Cockpit was packed. But so was The Rocket - so I had to quickly make my way back before people started attempting to come through.
Radio One A-listed with their forthcoming single release, they are a band who I've not stopped listening to over the past few weeks. Their latest album "Relationship of Command", out on Grand Royal, is a bit hit and miss at first, but once you get into it, it's absolutely mind-blowing. And their stage-show... wow! Such an immense energy-driven MC 5-inspired show from five skinny Texans complete with afros. Boy do they give value for money.
Sample lyrics, "Feeding Frenzy, It's contagious, Have trigger will travel, Have trigger will travel" or "Sacrificed on railroad tracks, Freight train coming, Freight train coming" and "Squirming through cuts in a throat" give you some sort of an idea of what's behind those intense songs if you'd ever wondered.
Literally amazing, this was by far the gig of the year for me. Oh, and At The Drive-In did this set at Royal Park Cellars earlier this year so if you're ever doubting the need for seeing small-venue gigs, I hope the scale of the current at the Drive-In tour shows you what quality you may just be missing.
