By DJ Astrocreep and Hannah Ross
A five hour blackout tattoo session is perhaps not the most ideal pre punk gig choice, but that’s what we get for when Dinosaur Pile-Up roll into town. With a couple of well-rated support bands, it promises to be an evening of fierce energy.
First on are Snake Eyes, playing as a two piece, from Brighton. With two vocalists in tandem, one on drums and the other guitar, there unfortunately seems to be a little something missing from a fair few of the songs. The sound comes across as tinny, with the lack of bass (bar backing in a couple of tracks) a hindrance to their punk sounds.
They bring plenty of energy, with both taking a turn to jump the barrier and hurtle off into the audience and are likeable enough. It still comes back to the lack of bass, which mars what could have been a really good performance, along the same kind of lines as Soft Play.
The parts where the bass backing is in are good, with the penultimate track actually really catching your attention. Unfortunately, it makes it feel overall like a Jekyll and Hyde performance, promising much but only partially delivering. The room is about half full by the time we get to the end of their set and it still feels like something is missing with most of the last track ‘Skeletons’, leaving a sense of frustration at what could have been.
The XCERTS step up to the plate next, and I have to admit they’re not my particular cup of tea, which is perfectly fine. Through a technical lens, they’re tight, well-rehearsed and full of energy, doing a good job of setting the tone for our headliners. The lead guitar and vocals lean quite heavily towards nasally pop punk in their sound, which is what puts me off, but seems to work perfectly well for quite a number around me in the crowd, which is probably a better indication of the performance levels.
There is a decent amount of applause after each track and it’s clear there are a number of their fans in the building, which shows they are worth their slot. I can appreciate they are good at what they do, both individually and collectively, despite the above and they go down well with what is quite a full room by the end of their set. Overall, a good set from Scottish veterans.
While I mentioned the main support not being quite my thing, Dinosaur Pile-Up are absolutely bang on form and absolutely loving life up on the stage. The crowd are bouncing from the start, shouting loudly along to ‘(You’ve Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)’, their intro song, right the way through the set. The energy is constantly flying both ways and there is clearly a lot of love all around the room for everything now going on.
We get loud dog noises repeatedly through the set from the crowd, which seem to go down well with the band. They are tight as all hell and the extra energy mentioned above really kicks it all off. Pogo pits, mosh pits, lots of singalongs, the bumper crowd are just here to celebrate and enjoy the music from the very off and it’s impossible not to be swept up by it all. Even the slower tracks still seem to attract more energy than you would expect from that kind of song, which is of great credit to both band and audience.
It’s good to see that even the newer songs go down well with the busy crowd. Opening with ‘Bout To Lose It’ and including tracks such as ‘Sick of Being Down’, ‘Love’s The Worst’ and a cover of Run DMC’s ‘It’s Tricky’ in the main body of the set, each to loud acclaim.
’11:11′ is a ridiculous ending to the main set, with the room going absolutely mental. Leading on to a three song encore, including the oft mentioned ‘Big Dogs’ we have all been craving all night, it’s a hell of a close to a superb set.
- All photos © Hannah Ross/Über Röck.