Cancer Bats @ the Waterfront
A good gig, but not a great one
It was probably my fault – it’s me not you yeah? I dunno, the cold weather, my age, the effort required to make myself leave the house on this freezing night, but I arrived at the Waterfront (my spiritual home after all) a bit out of sorts. I was looking forward to starting a new year of live music adventure, but at the same time had something of an ‘impress me’ attitude. First band Incite had just started their set when I walked in and they expended a huge amount of energy and managed to get a decent response from the early arrivals, but I remained unmoved. They had the expected high quality musicianship but it was a bit overly technical for my tastes.
Next up were the brilliantly named Lord Dying. This Relapse Records act had more than piqued my interest with their video featuring Red Fang and winning combination of intense heaviness and southern fried stoner groove. Far more in my general ball park, their live set made good use of space and they weren’t afraid to stretch out a little, but the lack of a bass player meant the sound lacked the bottom end it was so obviously crying out for and ultimately the similarity of each of their songs meant that they didn’t make the impression I hoped they would.
After two US bands it was the turn of Woking’s Palm Reader next. I’d moved back by the time they came on and the sound was rather muddy and lacked any real definition, it almost sounded like they were all playing a different song. The set coalesced as it progressed, and the last two tracks were by far the most cohesive and ambitious. As with Incite, a huge amount of energy went into the show, but for the most part the response was polite rather than feverish.
I felt like I’d just eaten the exact same meal, three times in a row so it was a relief that the moment Cancer Bats took to the stage the rush that had been lacking thus far arrived in an instant. I love True Zero and Bricks & Mortar and they made for the perfect set openers. Lead singer Liam Cormier is a ball of energy, sweating buckets as he covered every inch of the stage. I don’t like bands to take themselves too seriously (something some of the supports were guilty of I feel), but Cancer Bats imbued their set with a real sense of fun. It was a thrill to watch them. Bass player Jay R. Schwarzer was also very impressive, his playing was imaginative and his backing vocals are crucial to the band’s enormous sound. That sound is an almost perfect fusion of punk and metal, the energy levels never dipped and crowd were going mad for them throughout. I do like some light with my shade though and for me their impact lessened slightly as the set progressed at the same frenetic pace. A little more variation would have made some of the heavier moments stand out more, but it was great to hear their turbo-charged cover of the Beastie Boys' Sabotage near the end of their set.
Ultimately though I was never fully able to escape my surroundings, and therefore it was a good gig, but not a great one..
#StuPres
