By Monk and The Dark Queen
For one night and one night only, the back streets of the dirty ol’ town known as Belfast is transformed into the dystopian anti-paradise of San Vector, as after a delay of four all-too-long years, retro rockers Dead Addiction finally get to launch their rather excellent, and frankly ambitious, debut concept album into the bit wide world. Now, an album launch show can be a traumatic enough event for any band, but tonight was to prove exceptionally so… but, we’ll come back to that in a few paragraphs time…
Due to various bits of faffing about, openers Mindsweep – the first of the two bands we’ve not heard of never mind seen before – are in full flow by the time we eventually negotiate our way up Voodoo’s steep and narrow stairs. What we see is impressive enough to make us want to see more: solid, middle-order hard rock with a heavy alt vibe. Power ballad ‘Sláinte’, the obvious centrepiece of their set, has a subtle nod to the heroic Horslips with its underlying folk infusion, while overall they are a taut unit with tight rhythms and energetic vocals.
Next up are another band new to us, Dirt Cheap. They certainly live up to their name, delivering old-school bump and grind sleaze rock with undoubted enthusiasm. Unfortunately, they suffer from an uncharacteristically off sound mix, which is overly heavy on the bass and leaves the vocals initially very low, almost inaudible, although this latter situation does improve as their set progresses.
Overall, they have a raw vibrancy and an extremely positive attitude, which really came across when we chatted to them at the end of the night. Hopefully they manage to continue with the latter quality while ironing out the wrinkles of the former.
- Dirt Cheap support Somehow Sentient and String Cut Heroes at McHughs in Drogheda on Saturday 21 October.
At exactly 2007 hrs, the rock ‘n’ roll police kick in the doors and immediately start investigating the scene of the crime. And it is indeed very obvious that a major crime is being committed, as the band are suffering major problems. First of all, their intro tape doesn’t seem to play to completion and then Ciaran’s guitar decides to have it’s own private “fuck you” session. The band’s inexperience in the live arena definitely shows, as they struggle to cope with the delay caused by the running repairs to his gear, but they quickly regain their momentum and blast straight back into the album playthrough as if nothing had happened.
But that momentum is interrupted again as there is an even longer break when Ciaran is forced to replace his guitar leads for the third time. It’s the last thing they needed on the biggest night of their careers, and you can see the frustration on their faces. It’s almost as if they want to say “fuck this for a bag of biscuits” and go home to a cup of Horlicks. But, fortunately, the crowd are 110 per cent behind, never mind in front of, them, and in the best showbiz tradition the show does indeed go on, as they check on our ‘Metal Health’ before diving straight back into the album, delivering a ‘Warning Shot’ that exemplifies the enthusiasm and genuine depth of talent this quintet possesses.
Despite the technical problems, DA deliver a consolidated set: it doesn’t quite capture the power of the album itself but certainly does that of craftsmanship that went into it. And there’s a lovely nod to the band’s heritage when guitarist Chris’ former bandmate, Maverick singer David Balfour, joins the band for an appropriately ‘banging rendition of ‘You Could Be Mine’.
This has been Monk, reporting live for Über Rock from the scene of the crime. The suspects may have been identified, but I feel this case is far from closed and we’re going to be hearing a lot more from the dark back streets of Vice City for quite some time to come… I for one certainly hope so… Back to you in the studio, Ben…
- PHOTO CREDIT: All photos © The Dark Queen/Über Rock. You can view our full gallery of photos HERE.
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