Kobra and the Lotus / Brutai – Rebellion, Manchester (24th November 2017)

On a cold winter’s night, the rain poured down and the commuters grumbled whilst they sat waiting for their delayed trains and buses. Despite the adverse weather and the delays on the transit systems, this didn’t stop the fans who slowly trundled into the venue, eager to hear two bands that are slowly becoming staples on the UK touring circuit. Due to there being no support acts tonight, there was a bit of a wait for those of them who had turned up at the advertised door time of 7pm, but by the time the first band came on the venue had filled up rather nicely with people eager to have a good time.

That first band in question were none other than South London’s finest, Brutai (9). I remember seeing the band back when they did their first ever UK tour with Centiment back in 2014. They were my first ever interview for the site and since then both the band and myself have gone on to do quite a few great things. Having had a catch up chat with Felix and the guys beforehand, I was eager to hear how they would sound with their new equipment and what songs they’d decide to bring to the eager crowd that had gathered.

Opening with the first single from their debut album Born, “Deep”, the boys launched into a set which arguably sounded even better than the previous three times I’ve seen them. Sporting new EVH equipment and a new IEM (in ear monitoring) system, the quintet slowly but surely won the crowd over with their mix of modern metal and synth-based progressive grooves. Despite having a minor technical difficulty, the band took it in their stride with frontman Felix interacting with the crowd that had gathered whilst keyboardist Alex fixed the small fault. Launching into arguably my favourite track by the band, “The Border”, Felix rather kindly dedicated the song to yours truly before the flowing melodies and syncopated rhythms that make up a truly incredible piece of music.

Ending their set with two tracks from their debut EP, the band delivered the best set I’ve ever seen them play and set the bar incredibly high for whoever was to follow them on the stage. Speaking of the stage actually, the band did seem a little cramped given that there were five of them up on there. They worked with it though, and drummer Mathieu in particular looking as though he was having the time of his life.

The time had then come for the headliners of the night, Kobra and the Lotus (8), to grace the stage at Rebellion. Coming on stage to “Gotham” from this year’s Prevail I, they immediately got the crowd eating right out of their hands with frontwoman Kobra Paige working the crowd that had gathered like a champion. That being said though, they didn’t really do it for me. There is no denying that they are an incredibly tight band live and that they are incredibly good at what they do. It’s just that what they do isn’t really for me.

Kobra and the Lotus: official | facebook | twitter

Brutai: facebook | twitter | bandcamp | soundcloud

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