Artist:  Forever Never

Venue: The Cockpit, Leeds 

Date: 15th October 2010   

First off, as you can probably tell by the accompanying photos, there was no designated photo pit tonight and it’s hardly surprising considering this room is the size of a shoebox. In an effort to cram even more gigs into an already pretty full schedule, the Cockpit have decided to turn the upstairs lounge into a gig room and quite frankly, it’s a shit idea. 

The venue has never been a great place to go and watch a band (or for a club night for that matter) and the upstairs ‘chill-out’ room was one of the place’s most redeeming features. So, it’s a good job Forever Never make the most of playing in such a sweaty, cramped space and turn it into a pretty fun place to be for an hour, getting everyone moving and bouncing from start to finish so much that you can almost ignore the fact that it’s so hot up here you may well pass out at any moment.

The venue’s sold out tonight and the Leeds branch of the FN faithful are out in force and are sent a new shade of apeshit straight away as the band open with ‘Never Enough’, which rumbles the room so much that you begin to wonder if the floor’s going to cave in. The band are on tour promoting their new covers EP ‘I can’t believe it’s not Metal’ and treat us to 4 of the 6 songs on it and surprisingly, it really does work. Every cover has everyone (band included) grinning from ear to ear and Forever Never really do deserve massive kudos for this. 

Firstly, for not taking the easy option to just cover other metal songs and delving into the unknown with the song choices and secondly, for embracing the fun element to metal and for showing all the miserable, metal-elitists that whinge at everything outside of their comfort zone that this music can be so much more than grimacing at the moon, topless in the Scandinavian fjords and looking like an angry panda. 

The first dip into the new EP tonight comes in the form of the bizarrely excellent cover of ‘Boombastic’ and although it’s a shame that Benji from Skindred isn’t here to contribute his vocals tonight, Renny fills in for him quite aptly and the whole place is grooving to a rocked up version of a Shaggy song – brilliant. As the night goes on we are treated to more FN-ized pop covers such as Go West’s ‘We Close Our Eyes’ and the criminally underrated Michael Jackson song ‘Who Is It?’ which I’m sure, if released, will get a new lease of life as a future Forever Never classic. 

Aside from the band’s own hits, the biggest sing-along of the night comes in the form of their take on the monstrous 80’s power ballad ‘You’re the Voice’ by John Farnham which is given a proper FN makeover and dare I say it, may well be better than the original. The Bon Jovi-esque chorus has everyone singing at the top of their lungs, not least Renny who is putting his vocal talents to the test on this one and has undoubtedly passed with flying colours. 

The band’s own songs are of course great as well and it will be a crying shame if 2011 doesn’t see Forever Never become bigger than they are right now – they’re tight, professional, they have a commanding frontman in Renny who has all the skills to work the crowd like a seasoned pro and they employ a certain groove to their metal that too many newer bands often overlook but could really do with. 

Closing with the epic anthem ‘Empty Promises’ (the chorus of which gets belted out by the FN faithful before the band have even played a note), Forever Never have played a blinder tonight and despite the failings of the gig room itself, seeing FN in a such a small space will soon become a source of envy among gig-goers as I wouldn’t bet against them upsizing on their next tour in a big way.

Review by: Adam Grindrod

 

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