Lightning Bolt @ Brudenell Social Club
By Danny Morris
Arriving at the venue around 5pm, the Brudenell Social Club is already packed out with a whole variety of people. A few bands had already played, including the Lovers and Bilge Pump. However, we were just in time to see An Albatross take the stage. An Albatross play hardcore the way it should be played; extremely loud and extremely fast. With a similar sound to bands such as Daughters, the Locust and Horse the Band, An Albatross speed through a 20 minute set list that sparked a fire in a previously motionless crowd, which is a hard thing to do in the middle of the day.
Next to play is Michael J Coxx, which, if I'm fully honest, was probably the most entertaining act to grace the stage that night. Michael J Coxx raps his way through pop-electro beats emanating from a laptop computer. His music sounds like a crazy combination of Gravy Train and the Beastie Boys, with a Sheffield accent thrown in for good measure. His lyrics are hilarious and his stage presence is strangely captivating. Michael J Coxx is fun, no doubt about that.
So after Mr Coxx, comes Japanese band Mika Bomb, which the flyer for this event described as 'Rock N Roll played as it should be'. Unfortunately, after about five songs, I found myself looking for the bar instead of watching the band play. Handing over camera duties to my brother, I picked up the flyer again and read that Mika Bomb 'kick out classic punk jams delivered at breakneck speeds in the vein of the Ramones'. I don't know, maybe they were just not my thing, but I found Mika Bomb a touch boring towards the end of their setlist. However, I can say that technically, Mika Bomb were great musicians, and Mika had one of those voices that reminded me of Gemima Pearl or Karen O, with tunes similar to Le Tigre.
I had heard great things about DJ Scotch Egg, but never got round to actually listening to any of his music, so when he started to set up his equipment, which included three Nintendo's, I was slightly confused as to what was going on. However, DJ Scotch Egg's music will blow your mind away. It's a mix a fast electro and hardcore sounds, with some tunes as loud as previous band An Albatross. Making music from Nintendos is obviously the way forward. The look on people's faces was one of sheer excitement and hysteria, and it was clear why DJ Scotch Egg was chosen to play just before Lightning Bolt.
I have been waiting to see Lightning Bolt for what seems like years now, and you could tell that everyone here is aching to see them perform. The atmosphere is tense; the crowd is pushing to try and get that inch closer to the two Brian's as they fiddle with their huge stack of amps. It doesn't take Lightning Bolt long to set up either; no sound checks, just straight into the loudest riffs and the fastest drumming you will ever hear. I cannot actually believe how fast these guys can play. You can feel your ear drums wanting to explode as they play through songs such as Dracula Mountain and Riffwraith. Lightning Bolt rarely stop for breaks in between songs either, and instead let every riff and drum beat of every song intertwine in an explosion of musical frenzy. They are a joy to watch, especially as the crowd are within inches of them. People are leaning on the drums and standing on the amps. But that's the beauty of Lightning Bolt; they don't play to a crowd, they are part of the crowd; setting up in the middle of hundreds of bodies.
A small encore follows, as the crowd urge them to play on. Jumping straight into 2 Towers and then 13 Monsters, Lightning Bolt are simply a joy to watch. At the end of the night, I found myself shouting at people due to the ringing in my ears; I couldn't hear much and my neck still aches, but it was truly worth it.
