07-12-2006, 04:12 AM
Okay, I review gigs for the local paper here in Portsmouth, UK. So I thought I'd share my little reviews with you guys... they aren't great, but I enjoy doing it (it's not my job... I do it for fun and the occasional free ticket). Please feel free to leave comments of any kind.
Billy Talent + Reuben. Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth, 11th July '06
The Wedgewood Rooms were sold out for this event, which was so highly anticipated by it's mostly teenaged audience that many of them were sat outside the venue for hours before the doors opened in an attempt to see their band.
First up were Reuben, whose heavy guitar anthems were marred by sludgy vocals and poor sound. This didn't seem to bother the kids pogo-ing at the front of the stage area though. These youngsters will definitely have sent a few people home as fans.
Most people were here just for one band though, and Toronto's Billy Talent didn't disappoint, their polished Pop Punk driving the crowd crazy from the first chord! They aren't a band that do anything new and they'll probably spend a long time in Fall Out Boy's huge shadow, but a charismatic and friendly lead singer and some tight well played music should ensure a steadily growing fan base, even if their most ardent followers were being thrown about like rag dolls in the mosh pit.
Pick of their short, sharp tunes was The Suffering, a surprisingly mature track that sounded different to most everything else the band played, with a harder, thicker noise reminiscent of Korn. This song in particular invoked a wave of crowd surfing from the audience that, once it had started, refused to stop!
Billy Talent + Reuben. Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth, 11th July '06
The Wedgewood Rooms were sold out for this event, which was so highly anticipated by it's mostly teenaged audience that many of them were sat outside the venue for hours before the doors opened in an attempt to see their band.
First up were Reuben, whose heavy guitar anthems were marred by sludgy vocals and poor sound. This didn't seem to bother the kids pogo-ing at the front of the stage area though. These youngsters will definitely have sent a few people home as fans.
Most people were here just for one band though, and Toronto's Billy Talent didn't disappoint, their polished Pop Punk driving the crowd crazy from the first chord! They aren't a band that do anything new and they'll probably spend a long time in Fall Out Boy's huge shadow, but a charismatic and friendly lead singer and some tight well played music should ensure a steadily growing fan base, even if their most ardent followers were being thrown about like rag dolls in the mosh pit.
Pick of their short, sharp tunes was The Suffering, a surprisingly mature track that sounded different to most everything else the band played, with a harder, thicker noise reminiscent of Korn. This song in particular invoked a wave of crowd surfing from the audience that, once it had started, refused to stop!
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