Mind Noise Network
SOiL, American Head Charge, (hed) p.e. & Wolfborne
at Rock City, Nottingham
by Daniel King - 1 November 2014
Rock City on a Saturday night has seen its fair share of gigs, this was my first experience of a show there though and, after having a chat with Ryan McCombs from SOiL before the show, I headed to the main room to see what four American bands had to offer a Nottingham crowd on a mild Saturday evening.
Opening the show were Wolfbourne on what was probably something of a dream for them in terms of a first UK tour. I had no idea what to expect with these guys and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to grab a beer and just take in what they had to offer, I was very pleasantly surprised. Chris Witoski has a great voice and with songs like Sex Sells I can see these guys being a big hit, especially in America where their music will fit right in with the anthemic style of rock that they love. It was brilliant to see the UK crowd give them the huge ovation that they deserved as they left the stage. It was good to see that they really showed their appreciation for this young (in terms of how long they've been together) band. It was also good to see how well they handled American Head Charge doing their best to disrupt the set. Banana was spread across the stage, boxer glad men prowled the stage and brooms were brought out to tidy up. All in a days work on tour though. Check these guys out!
Hed PE were a band that, if I'm honest, I was not looking forward to. Their albums are not something I had enjoyed that much and I thought they were a bit of a token gesture on this tour. How wrong wrong was I? These guys turned out to be the band of the evening. A truly wonderful live band that are absorbing to watch. From the moment they took to the stage it was like they were the headline band, the stage was theirs and they were going to make sure people remembered them. I didn't know many of the songs, but that wasn't really a problem. The crowd were on fire throughout and the band reciprocated by bringing their 'A' game. The announcement of their recently signed record deal was received with a big cheer and that is now an album that I am looking forward to.
Fresh from their Wolborne antics (and also fully dressed now), American Head Charge took to the stage. Having recently announced they're releasing a new album in the Spring, this was a great opportunity to put themselves back into people's minds and also ease any worries that the constant line up changes would be a problem. It did take them a few songs to get going and I'm not entirely convinced that Justin Fowler's keyboard was ever actually switched on, but once they did get going there was nothing to worry about. Even a few earpiece problems for vocalist Cameron Heacock didn't come close to putting a downer on the set. There were a few standout songs during the 59 minute set, but the track they played from the upcoming album was a real highlight. Whilst it was a shame that Wolfborne didn't get their own back during American Head Charge's set, it was good to see doing a good old fashioned crowd dive. Something that Rock City is probably used to over the years. According to the band, it wont be long until they're back over in the UK and, on the basis of this set, that can only be a good thing.
SOiL were headlining on the night and, after having a chat with singer Ryan McCombs, I was really looking forward to this. It didn't start brilliantly to be honest. The lack of microphone was a bit of a problem, but one that was negated by the frankly excellent Rock City crowd. It was packed from wall to wall and they filled in for Ryan while the team got it together and before the end of the first track we were up and running properly. Musically these guys are really tight and somehow managed to feel 'bigger' than the 6 members of American Head Charge (that even went up to 7 at one point). What is great to see about SOiL is that, with nearly 18 years under their belt, they are still so humble. They all seemed genuinely shocked that so many people, thousands of miles from their home, were still willing to pay to see their music after nearly two decades. What was a little disappointing was to hear people heckling for the band to play Halo after only 2 songs, its things like this that make me understand why bands grow to dislike their 'biggest' tracks. That isn't the case here though, when SOiL play Halo they seem to see it as a way of thanking the fans that have been with them for all those year. Ryan jumps into the pit and sings the song from there and the atmosphere becomes nothing short of electric. In fact, ending their set with Break Me Down and Halo is one of the most perfect ways to finish off a night.
Overall, this night contained four really good bands at varying stages of their careers. Wolfborne deserve to have people get behind them at the start of their careers, the other three, two of whom have new albums coming out soon, fully deserved the ongoing support and more.
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1/20
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