I’ve got to admit… when this was announced I had to do a double take. The Blackout was thought to have been a fond relic of times gone by.
“Remember them?”, “Oh, aye!”. This was the band that introduced the [now] elder emos to dual vocals in an even more explosive way than Taking Back Sunday had managed to. Anyone who values their roots was never going to miss this gig and it comes with an added bonus.
Scotland’s favourite children and hottest prospect Dead Pony have been the main support on this tour and they’re back home tonight. Releasing their debut album ‘Ignore This’ on April 5th, it’s undeniable there’s a bit of electricity in the air as we’re waiting on doors. We’ve got the old masters coming back from the grave and the new heroes picking up the torch. Now I just hope it’s as good as I’ve made it out to be…
Opening tonight we have Newshapes. I could hear them from outside and was suitably prepared for a barrage of some brutal scream core from the sound of the soundcheck. On this tour, each opening act is a local band, so tonight is majority Scottish… we’re taking this one! Newshapes did bring the screams with some decent switching to smooth vocals too.
There are samples such as glitchy drum tracks (and halfway through, I swear there’s a Kenny G sax solo for one song) which add something a bit more modern and different to the sound which I’m all for. I did notice there’s no bassist though… it’s turning into a weekly occurrence now…
This will be the fourth time I’ve seen Dead Pony play live. I was kinda prepared for the same experience, but this set was totally different. Starting off with The Prodigy’s ‘Voodoo People’ – I’m not sure if it was being used as a sample during their first track, but I do know it hit harder than Pendulum’s cover and that made them – before launching into a brand-new set.
This set had more layers than I’m used to Dead Pony having. Previously, it’s been like a barrage of hard hitting electrometalpoppunkrave but now the set is more refined. It still hits just as hard and gets you moving – whether you want it to or not – but the dynamics of the set allow for the loud bits to really boot you in the chest while the not so loud bits (there’s no quiet here) let you recover for a bit, so you’re not desensitised. The whole thing flowed a bit better and tonight made me genuinely excited to hear the new album.
The stage presence can’t be ignored with Anna moving with the confidence and charisma of Lauren Mayberry or Hayley Williams, who have both been doing this a lot longer. That’s not to say the lads weren’t putting a bit of sweat into their performance too… Liam is easily one of the more active bass players on a stage right now. I knew this set wasn’t going to be bad, but it’s the best I’ve seen them.
While setting up the stage for The Blackout, I did have to question why what looked like the office’s dirtiest computer chair had been brought out onto the stage. It should have been obvious that vocalist Gavin Butler had burst his achilles tendon and rather than rearrange the tour (as other vocalist Sean points out – all the fans have jobs and kids now) the show must go on. Where Dave Grohl had a throne made out guitars, Gavin gets the chair that the venue staff go to cry on in the stationery cupboard. This is punk.
We get straight into ‘Shutthefuckuppercut’ and there’s not a person in this building who has lost a drop of energy in the past twenty years. The crowd is a sea of flailing arms and screaming lyrics. Barely halfway through the first song, Sean is hanging across the barrier giving the mic to fans and they, quite frankly, nail it. The set is pretty relentless – a barrage of old school postpunk riffs and clean vocals fighting with dirty growls. The tour debut of ‘Tick Tick BOOM!’ is prompted by the crowd chanting and the band obliging.
Even though Gavin is stuck in a chair, he’s still got the moves and even joins in with the circle pit at one point by spinning around – which is braver than it sounds if you saw this chair. Talking of moves, Sean’s stage presence isn’t only that of a fantastic hardcore frontman, but his sense of humor is through every song. Wearing a “donated” bra (I didn’t know that still happened at shows) around his head for the classic fly-eyes, to celebrating a well performed song by emulating masturbation and the champagne of glory with his microphone.
It’s like we put The Blackout in a cupboard for years and when we pull them out, they’re exactly as they were back then. That’s what we want from a show like this. It’s reminded us that we can still be the young versions of ourselves – even if our knees and lower backs have different opinions on that.
Dead Pony’s debut album ‘Ignore This’ is out on April 5th on Lab Records. You can pre-order at www.deadponyband.com.
Photos by Catching Light Photography