Gig Review: Body Count / Slope – SWG3, Glasgow (2nd July 2024)

Ah, finally a chance to catch Ice-T and his friends on the live stage for the first time in too many years. I was supposed to see them at Wacken, including an interview in the press area, but due to a lightning storm they were forced to skip. I have seen them a couple of times, but the first was waaaay back in 1993 at Newcastle University with Carcass opening for them.

This time, though, it was a band completely new to me. All the way from Germany we had Slope, a band who straddled genres with great skill. Perhaps fitting given the headliners’ mixture of rock, metal, rap, thash and hardcore, Slope pulled from multiple sounds – but very different ones. Yes, there was rock and metal, but also elements of prog and a large dollop of funk. Many of their songs started with a catchy bass line (think Faith No More / RHCP) and then built into something truly headbang-worthy.

They performed well, and had a decent sized pit of people alternately bopping and slamming depending on the style being pumped out at any particular moment. A good stage presence from a confident band who will be back for a single date in London shortly. However, they did promise a return to Glasgow as well. If you fancy something a little different then do check them out online and consider giving them support when they head back over.

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Prior to the headliners coming on, it was a pleasant surprise to bump into Matt from Heavy Metal Therapy who I had chatted to online recently, as part of our Mental Health Week coverage. We had a nice conversation which continued (with his dad!) after the show. I’d actually not been in the best frame of mind in the runup to tonight’s gig, and pushed myself a little to leave the house and come. To bump into someone I’d talked to about live shows being a catharsis, a way of kick starting your brain and improving your mindset, I took as a sign. I was already feeling a little better just by being in a huge crowd of nutters, and Slope had helped… now onto the angry part of the evening.

Body Count have been around for some time, and Ice-T as a rap artist for even longer. What began as a surprising side project has grown into a bit of a beast, with a resurgence recently after some time fallow. New album Merciless is due out later this year, delayed from 2022, and will be their eighth studio release. Music from it featured in the set list, including one song (“The Purge”) which hadn’t already been released as a single.

Opening with the standard “Body Count’s In The House”, the first track proper was actually a cover version. Slayer’s “Raining Blood” was a popular choice and a violent pit formed, a good sign of what was to come. I’ll be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of this cover, but I did enjoy hearing this classic song live again. It’s just too similar to the original with little rhythmic changes seemingly for the sake of it, just to make it that bit different. Body Count can do better covers… but more about that shortly.

Their entire career was covered through the set with most albums getting a look in. Perhaps surprisingly, Body Count itself – album number one – had the most songs drawn from it, with five being thrown to the baying horde. Also thrown in there was the popular cover of The Exploited’s “Disorder” (actually a medley of three songs) which featured on the Judgment Night soundtrack, where they recorded their version alongside Slayer. I can recommend the album and the film!

The title track from Born Dead was also popular, forming part of the encore. The encore itself was surprising in that it was quite laid bad. Kicking off with “Born Dead”, the pace changed with the more sedate “This Is Why We Ride” following. Still an angry number with a message to it, it’s not what you expect a gig to end on but there are absolutely no complaints from me.

(W)rapping things up, though, was an excellent version of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb”. This is how you do a cover. Take a brilliant original, one that might surprise the audience anyway, and then bend it to suit your own style. I very much hope this one’s on Merciless when it finally comes out.

What really set the gig aside as something special, though, was the band and those around them. I remember many years ago seeing “Li’l Ice” being introduced to the audience at a gig. He would have been 8, 9, 10 years old. He’s now a big adult sized person and performs backing vocals throughout as part of the band. When he’s not crowdsurfing and jumping into the pit mid-song. Replacing him to add the “cute factor” is Ice-T’s youngest, Chanel. She spent “Talk Shit, Get Shot” on stage, mugging and singing with her big bro and they looked about as great a brother and sister partnership as you could ever see.

After “Comfortably Numb”, Ice-T invited his whole family (wife and elder daughter as well as Li’l Ice and Chanel) to take a bow with the rest of the band. And, in an absolutely quality move, the last words of the night – and of the band’s whole tour – came from the youngest person in the building: “Thank you, Scotland. Good night!” Honestly, it gave me tingles.

After thirty years, this was as good a show as I remember Body Count giving. The large band, the family atmosphere, the (minor) stage theatrics… it was a balls-out metal show with a great atmosphere. Here’s hoping it’s not too long before they’re back around, perhaps after the new album drops.

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Photos by Kraken Media