A trip down from Liverpool to Birmingham started off with plans to catch up with a mate prior to the first HRH festival of the year, but then live music came to my attention, namely the pre-party in the HMV Vault, complete with live music… that was the plans altered, then! Time for a quick chat with headliners Enquire Within before getting into the groove…
First on are Flex Bison, who I’ve caught on a couple of previous occasions and despite the slightly bizarre backdrop of a fully operating HMV store, the stage at the end is pretty well laid out. There’s fuzz a plenty and it’s good to see that a few people have come down to check out the groove laden heavy rock ‘n’ roll from the Birmingham trio, as they boom out another impressive set. If Lemmy added a fuckton of fuzzy distortion to his Motörhead songs, it would probably sound like these three.
Another local act in the form of Secrets of Mariana take the next slot on stage and come across in a similar manner to A Day To Remember, albeit with their lighter end being more alt-rock than the pop-punk of ADTR. The female vocals work well in this contrast and despite a slightly ropey soundcheck, the set itself is pretty well streamlined, with a mix of tracks from their previous EP and a band new one, which comes across more heavily on their less heavy side, which is possibly not a bad decision on their part. Amy comes across quite adept at both the clean and rough vocal side of things and the band do both well, so perhaps that’s a personal thing, rather than anything else, as those around me seem to be nodding as much to both sides of their sound. A good set.
Pre-party headliner time then, with self-proclaimed “pick n mix metallers” Enquire Within, and after a bout of quite loud and thrashy goodness, it’s time for something a bit more melodic… or so ‘Bloodlines’ starts, before Jacob decides it’s time to bellow out something rather more thunderous and they get the groove going properly. The performance is tight – with Dan showing some pretty proficient technique on guitar as Henry smashes along and Jon stands quietly playing his bass, a brief technical hiccup aside, in an understated but able manner. I get the feeling the acoustics of the room don’t exactly help their sound but this neither deters them, nor should it, they’re a capable act who could go somewhere when they fully realise their sound, as the songwriting seems good enough especially given they are currently writing only their second album. A promising performance, as from the previous two acts, and a good showcase for what is to come across the weekend.
- PHOTO CREDIT: Photos by the author.
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