The Damned Things @ The Relentless Energy Sessions Festival, Relentless Garage, London - 23/10/10
Rock’s most badass new super group show London exactly how it’s done
It’s Saturday night in the capital and the hottest ticket in town is to see six men from three well known, highly respected bands put it all on the line for their love of rock music.
But first, there is a plethora of entertainment available in the Garage tonight, the second of three nights making up the Relentless Energy Festival which also includes headline sets from The Sounds (Thursday) and Band of Skulls (Friday). There’s some serious noise in the form of Feed the Rhino, Spycatcher and Lower Than Atlantis upstairs, all three causing a ruckus. There’s a man with a £6k ‘instrument’ called a Reactube which is the weirdest piece of music making equipment I have ever seen in the quiet bar, causing confusion. And then there’s Skintight Jaguars, Japanese Voyeurs and the hellish, beer soaked tones of Viking Skull in the main room, causing chaos. A veritable buffet indeed.
Soon though the lights are dimmed, the stylish main room is buzzing with anticipation and the moment we’ve all been waiting for finally arrives.
Featuring Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman (i.e. The guys that love metal) from Fall Out Boy, touring bassist Josh Newton and Keith Buckley from Buffalo’s finest Every Time I Die and the ‘no introductions necessary’ Rob Caggiano and Scott Ian from Anthrax, The Damned Things are a force to be reckoned with even on paper, without hearing a single song. Hear them on CD and you’re mightily impressed. Hear them live and you’re blown away.
The pounding drums of album title track ‘Ironiclast’ signal the flood of energy coming our way and in their own words, it’s ‘fucking contagious’. Friday Night (Going down in Flames) is up next and things begin to heat up nicely. The power of the three guitar assault cuts through cleanly without drowning out drums, bass or Buckley’s wit-laced vocals.
This is the type of music that comes with wisdom, a mutual understanding from all parties involved as to exactly what makes a faultless song. What we have here is emotive, powerful, memorable, catchy and best of all it puts a smile on your face. Keith’s usual top drawer gags are also out in force tonight, claiming he wishes he could see the ‘millions of fans’ before him, but he can’t because the lights are too bright.
‘Bad Blood’ is a shit kicking rock’n’roll song, full of swagger and a chorus that’d make AC/DC proud. There’s melody, heaviness, solos aplenty and as you can imagine it’s all pulled off with utmost precision from every angle. Another song (let’s call it ‘I Don’t Miss It’ for now) sounds like Thin Lizzy jamming with Anthrax on their song ‘Cadillac Rock Box’, while ‘Grave Robber’ is an utterly unapologetic stomp along. Not wanting to give the whole game away by playing every song on their forthcoming album, some early 90’s hardcore in the form of Quicksand’s ‘Fazer’ is thrown in for good measure.
Before the curtain call, the band slay through a riotous rendition of their most popular song to date ‘We’ve Got A Situation Here’ to close the proceedings, getting the crowd more hyped up than they have been all night before sending them home. It’s clear that most people here are still finding their feet with this band, but when they do come album release day on December 14th, The Damned Things could well be their favourite new band. And after tonight, December 14th can’t come quick enough.
Huge thanks to Kev @ Radiator PR!
Callum Galbraith
source
It’s Saturday night in the capital and the hottest ticket in town is to see six men from three well known, highly respected bands put it all on the line for their love of rock music.
But first, there is a plethora of entertainment available in the Garage tonight, the second of three nights making up the Relentless Energy Festival which also includes headline sets from The Sounds (Thursday) and Band of Skulls (Friday). There’s some serious noise in the form of Feed the Rhino, Spycatcher and Lower Than Atlantis upstairs, all three causing a ruckus. There’s a man with a £6k ‘instrument’ called a Reactube which is the weirdest piece of music making equipment I have ever seen in the quiet bar, causing confusion. And then there’s Skintight Jaguars, Japanese Voyeurs and the hellish, beer soaked tones of Viking Skull in the main room, causing chaos. A veritable buffet indeed.
Soon though the lights are dimmed, the stylish main room is buzzing with anticipation and the moment we’ve all been waiting for finally arrives.
Featuring Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman (i.e. The guys that love metal) from Fall Out Boy, touring bassist Josh Newton and Keith Buckley from Buffalo’s finest Every Time I Die and the ‘no introductions necessary’ Rob Caggiano and Scott Ian from Anthrax, The Damned Things are a force to be reckoned with even on paper, without hearing a single song. Hear them on CD and you’re mightily impressed. Hear them live and you’re blown away.
The pounding drums of album title track ‘Ironiclast’ signal the flood of energy coming our way and in their own words, it’s ‘fucking contagious’. Friday Night (Going down in Flames) is up next and things begin to heat up nicely. The power of the three guitar assault cuts through cleanly without drowning out drums, bass or Buckley’s wit-laced vocals.
This is the type of music that comes with wisdom, a mutual understanding from all parties involved as to exactly what makes a faultless song. What we have here is emotive, powerful, memorable, catchy and best of all it puts a smile on your face. Keith’s usual top drawer gags are also out in force tonight, claiming he wishes he could see the ‘millions of fans’ before him, but he can’t because the lights are too bright.
‘Bad Blood’ is a shit kicking rock’n’roll song, full of swagger and a chorus that’d make AC/DC proud. There’s melody, heaviness, solos aplenty and as you can imagine it’s all pulled off with utmost precision from every angle. Another song (let’s call it ‘I Don’t Miss It’ for now) sounds like Thin Lizzy jamming with Anthrax on their song ‘Cadillac Rock Box’, while ‘Grave Robber’ is an utterly unapologetic stomp along. Not wanting to give the whole game away by playing every song on their forthcoming album, some early 90’s hardcore in the form of Quicksand’s ‘Fazer’ is thrown in for good measure.
Before the curtain call, the band slay through a riotous rendition of their most popular song to date ‘We’ve Got A Situation Here’ to close the proceedings, getting the crowd more hyped up than they have been all night before sending them home. It’s clear that most people here are still finding their feet with this band, but when they do come album release day on December 14th, The Damned Things could well be their favourite new band. And after tonight, December 14th can’t come quick enough.
Huge thanks to Kev @ Radiator PR!
Callum Galbraith
source