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One band that has really made their mark
on the staff here at The Mayfair Mall are the all female quartet from
Brighton McQueen. Once again we're delighted to see the band return
to Newcastle after just a few short months since appearing here in support
of their truly outstanding 'Breaking The Silence' album.
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With two very different support acts
warming the crowd up tonight, the mix was indeed a very eclectic one.
First up were local favourites Laconia, a band that I have had mixed
feelings about in the past but these days the band seem more focused.
The last couple of shows I've attended by the band have shown they really
have gone that extra mile to impress their audiences and tonight was no
different. Led by the very capable vocals of frontman Scott Cavagan,
who really brings the stage alight with his very presence and is joined by
guitarist Martin Collingwood, bassist Chris Cuthbertson and on drums Henry
Wu, together the |
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quartet really pummelled out the metal.
The set continued with the impressive ‘Paint A Picture’ and the hard
edged ‘Waiting’, but it was with the excellent 'Sink Or Swim' that the
band really pulled out all the stops, also the the equally superb
‘Awake’ which was dedicated to Mitch (whoever Mitch was). |
The band went all out and showed that
they can adapt their sound to whoever they are supporting, but when they
themselves headline a show, they really can mix it up and are at their
defiant best. Blazing through their set they saved the best till
last with the sublime ‘They Try To Break Me But They Will Not Succeed’,
which rounded off a short but impressive set from the boys from
Chester-le-Street. If you like your metal raw and full of angst then
next time you see Laconia billed at a venue near you I highly recommend
you check them out because they are the real deal.
Now on to the next band, who unlike
Laconia are totally new to me. Hailing originally from Hungary
Freshfabrik are led by
Kju on vocals.
This was another hard hitting band that mixed it up big style with
traditional metal mixed with an electro backing tape and I have to say
they really impressed with their unique twist on the whole Euro metal
vibe.
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They opened up with
‘Genious’ from their 'Drive My Hand' opus and from here on in the high
intensity metal electro fusion never stopped. The impressive set
continued with ‘Could Be’ with its industrial hardcore metal mix but with
a very audible vocal presence of Kja.
The band brought
things down a little with ‘Life Is Passing By’, the first from their
‘Finest’ album, before brining in something new to their set with ‘Def By
Choice’ and ‘Icons’, which came across as a Ozzy/Limp Bizkit hybrid
sound and one that worked really well and went down a storm with the
crowd.
This band may have
been a long way from Hungary but
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the crowd were
certainly making them feel at home as they finish the set on a high
with 'See U Over There’, another delicious slice of Euro Techno Metal
before the climax of the set for me, the excellent ‘Fake Swastika’,
which again mixed traditional metal vibes with the modern electro vibe
and rounded off a set which definitely made me want to check out these
guy further ... and so should you! ... either on the tour or when they
next appear on these shores. |
Now for the main
event with an extended intro before the familiar 'Great Escape' theme
heralded the return of these metal maidens through the speakers, the girls
from Brighton lay waste yet again to Newcastle’s Carling Academy 2.
They set out their stall from the off by opening this leg of their
"Halloween Homecoming Tour" with ‘Dirt’ and so the mayhem began with Leah
Duors at her vocal best as she returned to once again prowl the stage
looking for victims.
The set continued
with ‘Running Out Of Things To Say’, which is actually the bands new
single and one that gave us all an ideal opportunity to gaze in wonder at
the superb guitar work of one of the best female guitarists around Cat De
Casanove as she just ripped up the fret board like no other.
The girls continued
their angst filled mayhem with ‘Not For Sale’ before welcoming those
Almighty, Wasp and Wednesday 13 fans that had returned to see them play
before launching into ‘Bitch’.
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Those of you who
haven’t purchased a copy of bands debut album 'Break The Silence' have a
second chance to get yourselves a copy as the album has been re-released
to coincide with this tour. The band continued with the title track
‘Break The Silence’ as Duors invited everyone round to the big Halloween
party at the Barfly in London on the 31st.
With an entire album
at their mercy they continued with one of my favourites off it, ‘Don’t
Know How To Break It To You’, which invoked a rampaging mosh-pit in the
middle of the floor.
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‘Blinded’ again
showed Cat at her finest as well as the pummelling back beat from Hayley
Cramer on drums and newest member Gina Collins on bass, whist Duors kept
the boys down the front at bay with that unforgiving stare of hers and a
vocal of equal menace.
Continuing their
assault on all senses with ‘The Line Went Dead’ the mosh-pit went totally
off the scale and frantically out of control. The set was rounded
off all too quickly with the album opener ‘Neurotic’.
The band left the
stage for a few moments before returning with the first song the band ever
wrote together, ‘Like A Care’, which again made the mosh-pit erupt into a
heaving mess of sweaty seething bodies and rounded off another great set
from the band. Hopefully a new album will soon be in the pipeline so
we can see the band once again storming the stages across the UK to
unleash more of the finest female metal around today. |
