Solaris, Atrio, Anger Is A Gift, Bannermans, July 23
Who's to know if he's angry about global political corruption, or soggy cornflakes?
| 14 Aug 2006
Local band Solaris (3/5) soldier on impressively, reduced to three members due to illness, and it's not just the singer/guitarist's facial features that bring the Manic Street Preachers to mind. With a straight brand of late-90s brit-rock, Solaris do a decent job of entertaining the assembled, even if they do little to suggest a burgeoning progression to a higher level.
From Essex come Atrio (3/5) – a trio, right enough – who unwittingly provide a comic moment when their first frantic burst of post-hardcore racket is welcomed by four aligned fans at the front, hands in pockets, heads bopping in perfect uniform. Theirs is an endearing thrash, rabid and noisy, vocals like interference, an energy worthy of more than just head-bopping.
Fellow tour-mates Anger Is A Gift (2/5) finish the show with a heavily Rage Against The Machine influenced rap-metal sound. The big bearded frontman has a stage presence deserving of a bigger platform, but his bitter rapping is so indecipherable as to reduce the set to redundancy - who's to know if he's angry about global political corruption, or soggy cornflakes? Without that knowledge, the whinging quickly gets tiresome. [Ally Brown]
From Essex come Atrio (3/5) – a trio, right enough – who unwittingly provide a comic moment when their first frantic burst of post-hardcore racket is welcomed by four aligned fans at the front, hands in pockets, heads bopping in perfect uniform. Theirs is an endearing thrash, rabid and noisy, vocals like interference, an energy worthy of more than just head-bopping.
Fellow tour-mates Anger Is A Gift (2/5) finish the show with a heavily Rage Against The Machine influenced rap-metal sound. The big bearded frontman has a stage presence deserving of a bigger platform, but his bitter rapping is so indecipherable as to reduce the set to redundancy - who's to know if he's angry about global political corruption, or soggy cornflakes? Without that knowledge, the whinging quickly gets tiresome. [Ally Brown]