SlamDunk Winter Jam Tour
SlamDunk bring four bands to Norwich and it is mostly very good indeedy.
A mild but blowy evening in the Fine City and it is time to head to the Waterfront Studio for the Slam Dunk Winter Jam tour.
If I am being honest, the main reason I am here is for MILLIE MANDERS & THE SHUT UP, “the warm up act for the warm up act for the warm act for Zebrahead” as Millie puts it. Millie’s in fine voice and is an entertaining front woman. Ex-Ducking Punches Pete is one of the finest drummers in the country. The bass from Georgina and guitar from Joe are damned fine too, as are the reggae, ska and rap tinged heavy rock songs. For the first couple of songs, the sound is strangely thin, however. Once that is sorted, MMATSU deliver the best set I have seen from them yet, winning over the crowd and earning some thunderous singalongs.
Despite being in their thirtieth year and my being aware of them for most of that time, this is the first time I’ve crossed paths with SPUNGE. Now it might just be that Damon’s guitar tone is similar to Stiff Little Fingers but, for the most part, Spunge’s set mixes-SLF-style melodic punk with ska and 2Tone. Alex (vocals), Chris (bass) and Damon all get involved in the between song chat and it’s all damned good, skanking fun.
TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET are a revelation. They take to the stage to some old school thrash metal - possibly Slayer - before breaking into high-energy punk. Buzzsaw guitars, rattling drums and thunderous bass are the order of the day. Despite being lumped in with pop-punk, they play with a ferocity that is closer to hardcore, like a heavier Hüsker Dü with better vocals. TBR do this damned well and bloody hell even more fun than MMATSU or Spunge.
And so to ZEBRAHEAD. The sound is rooted in License to Ill-style rap-rock but is heavier, taking in nu-metal and, at times, verging on industrial and death metal. The audience response is most enthusiastic of the night but there is something a bit, well, sterile about Zebrahead’s performance. Not for the first time, I am almost certainly alone in my view but they just don’t do it for me. Yes, the playing is great, it is intense and I should be enjoying it much more than I am. Maybe I am just burnt out by how much I enjoyed the previous three acts?
