Band: McQueen, Fabrik, Laconia
Venue: Academy 2, Carling Academy, Newcastle
Date: 12 October 2007   

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.

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 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.

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 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’.

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.

‘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.

 

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