By Jason Walker
Another cold wet February day in Manchester sees me returning back to a venue that by all rights should be charging me rent by now. Rebellion tonight hosts Counterparts, supported by Can’t Swim, Chamber and Static Dress which makes for a chunky lineup for a Tuesday night show and the massive queue outside the venue shows that this one will be a busy one.
The first act hasn’t even begun yet and the venue is already starting to really pack out which is a pretty awesome thing to see! Given the sorts of bands on tonight I’ve elected to find myself a pretty safe perch next to the sound desk because I can’t say I’m overly keen on catching a stray knuckle to my eye socket as this is definitely going to be a rowdy show.
Static Dress take to the stage under a cover of darkness and get straight into it screaming at the crowd to move up, the singer sporting a translucent waterproof jacket which seems a little odd, but it only stays on for about 30 seconds anyway. Their bass sound is absolutely monstrous, and two songs in they’re seeing some pretty good movement down at the front which is great to see for an early support act. Overall, they do a great job of mixing styles of metalcore, hardcore and even to straight up pop-punk and put on a really solid show which seems to have gone down really well with the now packed venue.
Chamber start with a nice big atmospheric opening and people are going bonkers in the pit already, and someone on the edge hasn’t quite taken to a hardcore pit particularly well after smacking someone who got launched into them. Definitely glad I’m nowhere near the front like because man, this is looking a bit too hairy for me! As with most hardcore bands, the discordant sound reigns supreme over the absolute madness and the crowd is properly invested by this point with the pit going crazy and heads bobbing.
I can definitely see why people love this stuff as it’s just music to go absolutely berserk to at its core principle really, Chamber are clearly loving the response the audience are giving them. Definitely a bit more of a sucker for a good melody to grab onto myself but some madness is just what you need really! While this sort of thing isn’t quite my cuppa, I can definitely appreciate what they’re doing here, it sounds fantastic and insanely discordant and the crowd bloody lived for it.
After some brief line checking, Can’t Swim suddenly hit a big note which quite clearly woke the audience up and shocked a few people in front of me much to my amusement. They couldn’t be further away from Chamber in terms of sound, like a somewhat more metal version of Rancid, both guitarists and bass helping with backing vocals that also remind me a bit of Billy Talent. The main singer seems to be more of a shouter, rather than a traditional singer type but mixing in some rap-esque stuff along with it.
As Can’t Swim progress through their set the overall sound definitely comes off as more straight up Punk but veering now and then into metal tinged territory and then back again. At this point the venue is absolutely packed and there’s barely any walking room to be seen and the front of the crowd is going bananas, quite a varied bill too! Part way through they go into a song off their new EP and its almost like a mix of Beastie Boys and Rage Against The Machine, great stuff. On the whole they’ve been a really fun band to watch, sounded great and had a fantastic audience response, what more could you want?
After some oddly poppy interval music, Counterparts take the stage and are ready to rip Rebellion a new one. A large circle pit opens up within seconds and this place is going absolutely berserk right from the outset – I’ve seen a lot of acts here, but this really takes the cake for going immediately crazy, bloody hell. Also, whoever is doing the sound tonight gas done an outstanding job; every act has sounded fantastic and Counterparts are no different, everything comes through brilliantly. There’s a storm brewing tonight in Rebellion and Counterparts are right in the middle of it, people just can’t get close enough to the stage to join the singer!
It’s fantastic to hear a band that mixes such heaviness with intense melodies and not just that, it’s that it’s so crystal clear that you can hear every nuance of the guitar and bass playing alongside the relentless drumming and screamed vocals. The pit is a nonstop sea of movement, crowd surfers, people jumping and raised hands, there’s barely a person here who isn’t absolutely lost in their element here, what a sight. People are even running up on stage and diving into the crowd with barely a care, this is without a doubt the most bonkers show I’ve ever seen at this venue, genuinely lost for words at this point.
As it stands, I’m having more fun seeing the crowd just absolutely losing their shit to the band, they’ve kind of just become a bit of secondary movement compared to the constant stream of people being launched up on stage and jumping back off it – security looks like they’ve just given up trying! Counterparts really have turned Rebellion upside down and put out one of the most energetic live shows I’ve ever seen, period. This was a seriously, seriously good show and if you’re in a band and want to see how it’s done, you owe it to yourself to catch these guys live – absolute masterclass.
- The tour continues at the Key Club in Leeds tonight (Wednesday 19 February) and finishes with a sold-out show at The Dome, Tufnell Park tomorrow (Thursday 20 February).
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.