Alien Ant Farm - The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton 30.10.2016
Due to a slight mishap regarding my photo pass, I unfortunately missed Kaleido’s set at this show, which I was absolutely gutted about. From what I could see through the doors, the singer was giving it her all, running and jumping about the stage with more enthusiasm than I could ever muster on a typical Sunday night.
Sumo Cyco blew me away at this show. The singer, though sick, still delivered an impressive vocal range and was constantly engaging with the crowd. Her and the guitarist were definitely the driving force behind the band’s stage presence, as not much was said by the bass player nor the drummer. The Toronto based band have an interesting mix of songs, including their newest single Anti Anthem which went down a treat. This may have been due to Sever venturing into the crowd on the guitarists shoulders whilst continuing to play the main guitar riff, or simply because it’s a bloody good song. I’ll let you listen to it and decide.
Next on were Hed PE from California, who define themselves as G-Punk, a combination of Punk Rock and Gangster Rap. I won’t lie, I was more than excited when the singer Jared emerged onto stage clad in a poncho and playing a melodica to a frenzied crowd. If you want a band that can draw Reggae, Heavy Metal, Ska and Hard Rock influences and mash them all into a single track, then I’d heavily recommend this band. Each track stayed in the vein of Punk Rock, but combined clever Reggae drum beats and impressive rapped vocals. We even begged for an encore.
And Alien Ant Farm?
Unfortunately, a disappointment. I’d heard that the band had so far had a rather unfortunate tour, Terry Corso had assaulted a fan several nights prior after believing he had thrown a cup of urine at him during a song. Understandable considering this had occurred at their Preston show earlier on in the tour, although that incident had ended with the band storming off stage, not with Corso punching a member of the crowd and being charged over £200 in prosecution costs for the privilege. The set tonight was bland, stale and unresponsive. Dryden paced the stage like a lost toddler, and the songs lacked the energy that I had grown to love over the years. Even their single Movies, played second in their set, failed to gain much reaction from the majority of the crowd and it was a shame. I wanted to come away from this show on cloud nine, but I left deflated and, well, rather gutted. Still, not all is lost I suppose, as I’ll definitely be catching Sumo Cyco and Hed PE again.
Alien Ant Farm - https://www.facebook.com/alienantfarm/
Sumo Cyco - https://www.facebook.com/sumocyco/?fref=ts
Kaleido - https://www.facebook.com/Kaleidoband/
Photos & Review - Sooty Photography
