By DJ Astrocreep
Three prog bands within a three-and-a-half-hour window, plus changeovers, means probably two songs each for the support acts, right? Not quite, it turns out, but then neither Port Noir nor The Ocean are typical prog bands in that manner. The cold and the rain couldn’t keep me away, once trains were fairly back to normal, and I’m raring to get gigging after the washout of the previous evening.
Enter Port Noir, a rather intriguing Swedish three-piece where only the drummer doesn’t pull double duties. Love performs both bass and vocals, while Andreas takes guitar and sampler duties, while they fuse an almost r’n’b sound with an electronic prog feel to create a quite diverse and engaging noise. Even losing his pedal board for a song doesn’t faze Andreas, as he has to jiggle stuff around and change the socket after the penultimate track to restore power, with the band performing the same anyway. Love’s vocals are smooth and hypnotic while both Andreas and AW on drums provide a more than capable rhythm section to keep everything on time, while the offbeats feel both jarring and sympathetic to the music at the same time, creating a good ambience through their 25-minute set.
The Ocean are closer to our headliners in terms of performance and sound, with the clever use of smoke and lights meaning they can mirror their loud/soft approach to vocalist Loic’s rough/clean style, creating much more of a visual as well as audio representation of their work live. They come across as more than capable headliners in their own right with a truly top-notch performance that wowed myself and those around me alike. Loic goes stage diving and crowd surfing halfway through, a touch unexpectedly, it seems, while the rest of the band plow on. While we again get technical issues – the band have to go off stage for five minutes as the power goes during their penultimate song – they again don’t let this affect their overall performance, even taking the time to apologise to those at the front as they come off stage for the interruption. The use of every potential aspect to enhance their overall feel makes for a great set and one that shows their level is surely higher than a support slot in the very near future.
Leprous, as I found previously, are something utterly splendid as a live act. The balance between the new and old, the poignant introspective of inner demons versus the in your face, no fucks given Prog metal side is struck perfectly. The delicate nature of the new album, so reliant on sound clarity and quality of melody, sits surprisingly well against the much bolder style that myself and others have previously come to expect from Leprous, even if it has been hinted at before. The technical issues from the support acts do not re-materialize, allowing us to explore the technicality and layering of their sublime sonic landscape, drawn in as much by the sheer musicianship as the strong vocals.
The setlist borrows well from both the new and the older material from the band, with songs such as ‘I Lose Hope’, ‘From The Flame’ and ‘Distant Bells’ sitting well alongside their better known counterparts, where the crowd sings loudly along to what they can. The atmosphere is top notch from the get-go, something that is only fuelled further by the exploits of the band on stage and Einar’s open and self-deprecating demeanour. The light show mentioned for The Ocean continues, with Leprous taking full advantage of the wall of smoke to weave an atmosphere that veers between morose and uplifting, including our encore. The musicianship is of a ridiculously high standard throughout, combined with Einar’s sumptuous vocals weaving the hypnotic web that we all struggle to escape throughout. A simply captivating evening of music.
- PHOTO CREDIT: Photos by the author.
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