When
I left the Unsigned Showcase gig on Tuesday 29th April,
my ears were ringing from the red-hot n' loud music upstairs at
the Litten Tree pub, called The Venue.
This
is where the Unsigned Showcase gigs will be held from now on and
Tuesday 29th April marked the launch of that.
Walking
upstairs to greet the pounding tunes from the DJ, there were already
a lot of kids milling round waiting for the acts to start, which
were: Exit-10, Radiate, :Heckler and headliners Flipcycle.
After
chatty compere Jim Bowes talked the talk and walked the
walk (and boy does that man walk around the room when he's talking!),
Exit-10 stormed the stage, plugged in, and proceeded to
bleed everyone's ears with their deafening nu death metal sound.
These
boys from Woodley, all teens around 17 with frontman Owen aged
22, really let rip with frenzied guitar riffs, angry lyrics,
screaming guitars and the odd screams of pain and rage from
the vocalist.
All
in all an in-yer-face performance that could easily be
the soundtrack for a blood-curdling scenario involving escaping
from a fiery dragon pit while being pursued by a psychotic axe-man,
oh, and you're steaming angry too.
Next up were the chilled-out yet charged Radiate from Woking,
who also gave a very powerful performance.
Blond-dredded
Steve is a very confident singer and a real entertainer with
his pseudo-surfing on stage, entranced dancing and of course
his fantastic voice, sometimes rapping, sometimes singing.
For
some reason he even threw his shoes into the audience -
full marks for creativity mate.
Radiate's
songs are very sing-alongable, especially the last song 'We
are Indestructible'.
Their
melodic rock sound reminded me of a cross between Rage Against
the Machine, Reef and Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
I
can see this band on the Main Stage at the Reading Festival one
day.
:Heckler who were up next magnetically drew the audience
forward, as previously the rather shy crowd hung back, and blew
everyone away with their heavy yet melodic Skunk Anansie-esque
sound.
The
Newbury-based band, fronted by 16-year-old Hayley, have
been rocking the Reading music scene ever since they formed in
2001 and tonight was no exception.
Their tight set, strong vocals and Hayley's clear voice riding
on the waves of distortion guitars, made for a brilliant performance.
Last
up were Flipcycle, whose metal rock energy resonated throughout
The Venue and gave a brilliant performance which was sadly disrupted
for a few minutes by technical difficulties.
The
band, who are currently working on a second album, gave
a new meaning to 'wall of sound' - their wall came from some craggy
aggressive rock face filtering through angry sound.
The
band gave a charged performance, especially the vocalist
with his enraged raws and shuddering dance moves.
Check
out next week's gig, same day, same time (8.30pm), same place,
different bands.
