Thankfully I found out earlier today that the gig wasn’t at the Classic Grand as I’d thought and was instead at Audio, round the corner. I’ve no idea why I’d originally thought it was at the Classic, perhaps as ArnoCorps played there last year – a gig I missed for some reason.
I wasn’t going to make that mistake again and got to Audio early enough to have a chat with the lovely Lisa from RagePR and Alan Swan, bonkers photographer extraordinaire before local support, Slowlight, came on. An interesting four-piece playing their own blend of post-hardcore they filled the opening half an hour or so well.
True shared vocals lent a fair bit to their sound – one male and one female lead. What really caught the attention, though, was their lead guitarist. As flamboyant as they come, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a musician get quiet so “into” their music as he does. Leaping, stomping, tip-toeing, prancing and diving into the crowd while never missing a note, he was an impressive sight while his bandmates kept a solid rhythm.
While not quite my kind of music, I was nodding along and getting into things more and more as their set progressed. Some good hooks and intense heaviness in there.
Highlight of their set, though, was the final song. I’m not sure if this was planned or not, but their cover of The Dead Kennedys’ “California über alles” was hijacked by ArnoCorps themselves with singer Holzfeuer stealing the microphone and crowd-surfing with it while belting out the words.
Here is a selection of photos – full set is on Flickr.
A short break later and six black-clad face-painted disciples of Arnult strode on stage. All they were missing was a Predator to kick about, but they made up for that by kicking our arses instead.
I’d heard about ArnoCorps shows, but this was my first time witnessing one. It’s like a 6-man Andrew WK show, but with added Austrian accents and muscle. And songs about Arnold Schwarzenegger films. Crowd participation isn’t so much expected as mandatory but the whole thing’s so much fun it’s impossible not to get drawn in.
I honestly don’t think I’ve seen any band ever spend as much time off the stage and amongst the crowd as ArnoCorps. Whether standing on the bar, crowd-surfing while playing/singing or riding around on a guitar case, this was more than just a show where you stand and watch the band for ninety minutes and go home.
The songs are good, too. As well as entertaining, the band are top-notch musicians and thankfully they’ve taken a prolific film star as their muse. This lets them run riot with songs based on Terminator, Total Recall, Conan, Commando… hell, even seminal keep-fit video Pumping Iron gets a look in as a stage-filling pose-a-thon.
There really isn’t a dull moment and I can tell you that those getting to Bloodstock on Thursday are in for a brilliant night’s entertainment.
Next time I’m leaving the camera at home and diving into the pit. Hopefully “they’ll be back”…
Here is a selection of photos – full set is on Flickr.
ArnoCorps: official | facebook | twitter | youtube
Slowlight: facebook
