Despite this being a gig-heavy season I was still a little down due to Lamb of God’s Glasgow date not just being rescheduled again like the rest of the tour, but cancelled outright. The kicker was that it was my planned birthday gig and I’d been planning to go with my eldest and her boyfriend. Ah well.
And then up popped this bonkers trio of eclectic bands on one bill, which it turned out that the two youngsters already had tickets for. So one day late we headed into Glasgow with the usual winter issue of wearing enough clothes not to freeze on the way there, while trying not to boil once inside the venue. When I picked up my ticket a blue wristband slipped out of the envelope, which I am guessing was a little birthday surprise from the PR company – a Volbeat Pit Pass. The venue was set up with a circular walkway extended into the audience. Those with passes (limited to 200) were allowed inside this circle which allowed for an interesting viewpoint throughout all three bands’ performances.
Napalm Death strode on stage at quarter past seven for half an our of pure Brummie noise metal. I’ve seen them a few times before (including what I believe was the most expensive gig, in terms of pounds-per-minute, I’ve ever been to), and in a bizarre way tonight’s show was the most “intimate” performance I’ve seen them play. Being ensconced within the Pit I was joined by no more than ten other fans. Right up at the barrier, a few of us nodded along while a couple of others milled behind.
The sound was pretty good, except Barney’s vocals sounded like they were being phoned in from Siberia on an old Nokia Cityman… and then channeled through a speaker 100 yards behind me. With the volume down. OK, so I know they’re “noise metal”, so you take the rough with the even rougher but you should still be able to make out all the words to “They Suffer” and “Dead”. Yeah, OK, bad examples but you get my drift.
Barney is as mental on stage as he’s ever been. He looks every inch not the rock star with a plain grey t-shirt and charcoal jeans, and shortish hair. Quite nondescript. Then he starts singing, the arms wave, the head shakes and there’s simply nobody else like him. Shane Embury (who I last saw playing with Brujeria in Edinburgh) on bass is another favourite, absolutely hammering all four strings with the aforementioned sound letting each plunk and twang ring through.
Being so close to the stage, I think I was hearing Danny Herrera’s drums direct from the source rather than via any amplification. Long term touring guitarist John Cooke is as much a part of the bands as “official” member Mitch Harris, and his simple noisome riffs battered the handful of us watching the band in our own little private venue.
And then the cheers between songs. Looking over my shoulder I could see a sizeable number of other fans located outside of the Pit who were lapping up the tunes. As I said, an odd experience, being in both the smallest venue where I’ve seen Napalm Death while also being in the largest! It felt like a shame seeing them play to maybe ten of us when in reality they were playing to hundreds. It’s also the first time I’ve seen them and ended up with a crick in my neck from having to stare upwards for half an hour!
Which rounds up a very long review for an opening band, but they deserved it. With a set spanning a career from 1987’s Scum to 2020’s Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism, their longevity may come as a surprise to many but they truly are a unique act. I may have ordered couple of shirts from their hugely ethical online store when I got home – cheaper than the prices at the venue, a bigger range, and the band will be getting more from the purchase.
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Well… how do you follow Napalm Death? You don’t. You take a complete sideways genre step and chuck Skindred onto the stage. The Pit was filling up with maybe 100-150 people making things a little more cosy as we moved from noise metal to reggae metal, from Birmingham to Newport.
Now in complete honesty I’m not their biggest fan. I know they’re really popular, I have breezed past their set at Bloodstock, but I’ve never seen a full live show. I tried listening to a bit of their music but… not quite for me. I do recall getting a copy of Dub War’s first album when I was university, and I might even have it kicking around, but Skindred just don’t quite jiggle my musical funny bone.
However, I had always wanted to witness them live and in full flow just to see what all the fuss is about. There are a few bands I generally won’t listen to at home, but who are great live. Would Skindred prove to be one of them?
Benji Webbe is, quite rightly, a legend in the metal scene. Not just for his performances, but for the way he has nurtured and worked with so many other acts. He’s one of the good guys, but he’s also a great frontman. Charismatic, funny, and more than just a singer. I thoroughly enjoyed his between-song banter, which is good, as the vocals were once again completely lost in the otherwise decent sound mix.
As I said, not a fan of the music but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t appreciate a great performance from the whole band. They made use of the walkway, not just to stride about and pose, but to run around and take the piss out of each other. With some great bouncy numbers and the legendary Newport Helicopter, it’s no surprise that Skindred are known for their live show.
Would I go and stream / buy their albums in light of the fun I had? No. Would I consider seeing them live again? Yup.
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Before the headliners, my daughter came down to the main floor as the staff had just let people move around the arena. “Only” 4500 or so tickets had been sold, so the ground floor wasn’t at capacity. The sound hadn’t been great for them, either, up in the seats so they’d decided to see what it was like at sea level.
Lights down. Cheers erupt. Denmark’s Volbeat bounce on stage, and I rush back to the Pit to find it, unsurprisingly, at cosy capacity. I managed to wedge myself about halfway back near a lady wearing a classic Rock Radio t-shirt and settle in for one of the most stunning light shows I’ve ever seen at a concert. Ever. I mean… wow. I know technology has come a long way in terms of screens and backdrops, but I was maybe 20 feet from the huge screen behind the band and I couldn’t see a single pixel. The image was staggeringly clear, and this along with a handful of other light panels were used stupidly well to enhance an already great rock n’ roll show.
Credit had to go to Michael Poulsen who was playing with a rotten cold. At points throughout he said that his voice was failing him, but you absolutely couldn’t tell. Volbeat seemed to be the only band that the sound techs had bothered to check the microphones for, and as such the vocals (main and backing) were all crystal clear.
Full use of the walkway was made by all three mobile members (Jon Larsen stayed resolutely glued to his drum stool), who pandered to both crowds. Poulson spent a fair bit of time at the farthest point from the stage so those within were looking at his bum (which I’m sure won’t bother some), or the superb projected images on the screen.
The setlist bounced around the older and newer material, and all was well received. While I’m sure there will have been people there purely for Skindred and maybe for Napalm Death (such was the eclectic mix of bands), the bulk of the crowd were definitely Volbeat fans. While I’m one of those “I prefer the old material” sadsacks, the new stuff’s not that bad… and it slays live.
It’s still a little odd, even after all these years, to see ex-Anthrax axeman Rob Caggiano playing with them, though he’s now been with Volbeat for about as long as he was with Scott Ian’s merry bunch of thrashers. He’s completely at home, though. Striding along the walkway, smiling, pointing, posing and obviously having a great time. His guitar flurries add a little something to Volbeat’s sound, and this really comes across when he wings it a bit.
I know Volbeat have their detractors, but tonight’s show could lay all of them to rest. It was what a live show should be. Grins, glitz, guitars all ramped to the max. Honestly, what a way to end my 2022 gigging season. On a high and wanting more!
Photos by Sean Larkin Photography
