Autonomy and Black Candy - live review @ The Dun Cow, Daventry, England (25/11/2000)

I made quite a effort to make sure I attended this gig tonight as I've wanted to hook-up with Autonomy for some time now. And this show has presented me with another bunch of firsts. The first time I have seen either Autonomy or Black Candy and the first visit to the Dun Cow as a venue. I will get onto the bands in due course, but what a strange place for this kind of gig. It is a small two tiered back room in a old oak-beamed pub, a room that could quite happily be a restaurant at other times. It is strange, but having said that it is 'good strange' (as opposed to 'bad strange'). It is extremely intimate and from where the bands are placed, with the second floor balcony up ahead, the stairs descending to the right and the ground floor full of folks face to face with you, it must be like there are people watching you from every angle.

"...hey man this is weird, fuck surround-sound, this is surround-people..."

So, the place was very small and to complement that it was also very full. The vocalist from the opening band tonight described it as a mini LA2 (London). That was Joe from Black Candy who said "...hey man this is weird, fuck surround-sound, this is surround-people, you are trying to confuse me, I'm not sure just where to look..."

From the moment they started their set, there was a feeling of class coming from this band. I somehow felt kind of lucky to be watching them at such close quarters and in such a viewer friendly environment. This is a good band with quality members and strong well written songs. They play a very modern type of rock that mixes many styles of music into a metal base, but one that also has a traditional foundation. There are some very heavy moments, some more classic rock sounding moments, there are even several moments with prolonged hints at a funky groove. The vocals cover talky rap, to full-on pleasant singing through to raw guttural shouts, and are delivered by the strong warm personally that is Joe.

Two songs into the set and all the lights went out, the band were playing in darkness and until our eyes adjusted we were watching that darkness. But this didn't matter as they had everyone captivated and the atmosphere was already formed, the darkness just gave us a blank canvas with which to reshape the music.

"...they had everyone captivated and the atmosphere was already formed, the darkness just gave us a blank canvas with which to reshape the music."

They played a magical 40 minutes of music and included songs such as "Turnaround", "Downfall", "Ben's Song" and "Not Over". Two of these songs are featured on a demo CD that the band had for sale at the gig, (which I obtained and paid for!) and which I hope to review as soon as I get the chance. The crowd received them very well with a mosh pit forming for the second half and some serious movement going down. There was that general buzz from people during and after their set, that just proved how successful their night had been. This is definitely a crew to watch out for, another great up and coming UK band and I wish these lads well.

Then a short break and on came Autonomy. There was an increase of intensity, as this popular band from Daventry had the full attention and outstanding support of their fans. There was a good turnout tonight and an excellent atmosphere, the lads were ready, a few tentative drum beats and some feedback and into their first song "A Feeling Undescribable". The twin vocalists duelling with each other, their fast rapping and at times almost death style vocals complementing well and even more so in the following song which I think was called "This Is Real".

"The essence is solid cool grooves, edged with raging guitars and lead by those sparring vocals."

Autonomy play a completely different style to Black Candy, but the two bands do complement each other quite well. The more subtle side of the first band highlighted the brutal force of Autonomy, the shear power, anger and attitude of their far more aggressive 'rapcore' style. There were some really heavy riffs pounded out from songs that I had not heard before and they were really captivating even though I was not familiar with them. The essence is solid cool grooves, edged with raging guitars and lead by those sparring vocals. The crowd were certainly into it as the pit was moving like a bastard, with almost the entire ground floor moving as if one person and this was continually encouraged by Jay (the fast rapper).

"S/K/N/S" was played midway through the set (this is a crowd favourite) and only added to the atmosphere (even if Jay did announce it the song before it was due *smile*). I can only applaud the effort that this band put into their performance, it was phenomenal, it was massive, it was everything. Even if for some strange reason, you didn't like the music, you couldn't help but have respect for these blokes just down to that effort alone, the fact that their sound has got to be out there topping the scene makes them almost irresistible.

These five nutters have recently won themselves a recording contract with Earache Records which sees them due to release a debut album in the Spring 2001, and on the sheer entertainment provided tonight you can see how they got that deal and it gives you a big appetite for more. The 45 minutes or so that they played went in no time and was most enjoyable, the good thing is that these lads love to play and can often be found playing venues around the Midlands and further afield (check their website for the latest gigs http://www.autonomy1.com). So, I recommend that you get yourselves out to see this bunch, you won't be disappointed, I certainly wasn't!

Rigsby.