By The Dark Queen
As, after finishing a long shift in my day job, I brave this cold winter night for a second time, I am filled with apprehension, excitement and fear, as I haven’t been to shoot a big stage gig for almost six months after breaking my shoulder: what if I fail?
I enter the pit as Florence Black take to the stage to an almost full auditorium. They have played Belfast a couple of times but some of the crowd haven’t seen them before. They blast open with their opening chords and an immediate wall of sound has the crowd gripped. As they continue with their powerhouse, hair throwing set, full of energy set they have everyone engrossed.
After this set they have definitely won quite a few more fans over here in this wee part of Norn Iron, many of whom no doubt will welcome them back with open arms when they return to headline in their own right later in the year.
After a wee smoke break I re-enter the pit, still nervous, for our main attraction (in every sense): Tremonti. The band stride on stage like they own it (which they do) only to ‘Wish You Well’… Wow… The thunderous beats have the crowd right from the start… the night has begun. What the fuck is coming?
We get ‘Cauterized’ and then are told we ‘Waste Our Time’. So far I’m blown away. So much so I’m struggling to focus on the job in hand… As I leave the pit to join the massive crowd and push my way through to find my gig buddies, the first of the new tracks tells us ‘Tomorrow We Will Fail’: I don’t think so..
Tremonti blast through the next couple of songs before Mark apologizes for not being well and having a sore throat: this is the second time in his last three visits that he’s complained of suffering a dose of the lurgy (as we say in these parts) – but, just like the last time, there is no sign of this being apparent, as both the man himself and the rest of the band are full of energy and are totally animated on stage. The crowd are totally loving their performance and I’m definitely not the only one in my place of glory, lol.
As they bulldoze through their set Mark keeps apologizing for not being well – BUT by fuck that man keeps giving all he’s got. The atmosphere in this room is electrifying, as they storm through their set including tracks off all of their six albums, so there is something for each and every one of their fans.
It was not until the final couple of songs that we could hear Mark struggling a tiny bit BUT he gave his all and it was such a performance from him and the whole band. All I can say is – WOW! I personally love the fact that the set list covered all six albums, as not many bands do that.
Not only me but everyone left the performance ecstatically happy and full of praise for what they had just seen and heard. So it was with a warm glow in my heart that I braved the cold to go home and listen to all of those albums back to back…
ROLL ON THE NEXT TIME…
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