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| Thursday 27th April, 2000 - The
Charlotte, Leicester, ENGLAND.
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| I had been looking forward to this gig for quite a
while, with two very good and strong UK bands on the bill, but especially to see "Earthtone9". I saw them back on the "One Minute
Silence" tour last year and have been looking forward to seeing them again since.
However, when we arrived at the venue, there on the door was a note saying "Earthtone9
are unable to play tonight due to illness" Oh, shit!! Well, there was immediate dissappointment, followed later in the night by concern, after all I guess these things sometimes happen but I hoped all was well with the band. Since this gig, I have contacted 'Oz' (guitarist with earthtone9) and I have also received some feedback from fans. If you would like more information, then please visit my Earthtone9 pages. |
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| Okay, so the night started a little negatively,
but hey there was still some really good entertainment to come here tonight. With
one band missing from a co-headling gig, there was quite alot of waiting around, however
there was a respectable crowd building and the bar was busy and engaging. The support band came on at nine. They were a five piece from Italy called "Linea 77" and featured twin vocalists. An old little unit, but they were very keen to impress and right from the outset were kicking some ass. In fact they were playing so hard that two songs in the bass player bust his E string! The sound thins |
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| considerably and the guitarist fills with the
two vocalists rapping between themselves and the bass player hurriedly changing strings,
tuning up and about 30 seconds before the end of the song kicks back in big time. They
really did deserve 10 out of 10 for effort. Throughout, the bass and drums were really
giving it some and the front men doing everything they could to get the crowd going. There was the odd comic moment, as in between songs the tall frontman goes to shout something only to find he could only emit a weak sounding squeak followed by a cough. This amused everyone including the short dumpy second voiceman who stood there laughing, only to receive a nicely aimed flob from the clearing throat of he who squeaked. My lasting memories were of the offending mucus hanging off the bloke's arm for most of the next song. Nice! Their music was hard and heavy with interchanging vocalists and wasn’t half-bad. Fairly much in the hardcore rap style, with the attitude and manic stage movements to match. Overall, the band were more than competent at entertaining, but no sooner had they taken to the stage than it was over (about 25 minutes). The crowd drifted into the bar for the long wait until the main band of the night was to take to the stage. |
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It was quite a long wait until Mark and the "Kill II This" crew made a start (about 10:15) but as soon as
the first few riffs reverberated around the room, you knew it had been worth it. The
presence of Mark Mynett (Guitarist & Songwriter) was immediately obvious as his manic
grin/sneer reached out to every person in the place and collected their attention. Such
was his presence, it took me until partway through the second song to realise that Ben
Calvert (Drums) was actually facing the wall with his kit set-up so he had his back to the
crowd! Well strange, I have never seen that before and there was no reason given for why,
guess he was just admiring the fine brickwork at the back of the Charlotte. It's got to be
said that, given the choice of looking at the wall or at Caroline Campbell (Bass), there
really is no competition …… the wall wins every time …… no, only
joking, it would seem obvious where I'd be looking. The gig comprised of a nice mix of old favourites, mostly from the "Deviate" album with only the odd trip back to "Another Cross II Bare", and new songs from their just released "Trinity" album. I was a little peeved to find that I couldn't buy the new album from the gig as the label had done the usual "lets make as much money as we can by making |
| the kids pay £15 quid in the shops rather that a tenner at the gig" trick. Instead, I chose a copy of the first album "Another Cross II Bare", as I had never got around to buying it and there was an interesting "no label" version of the CD being sold, which looks like the band are distributing it themselves now with out the backing of a record label. | |
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| So, I had yet to hear this new album, but none of the songs played felt out of place and I liked what I heard. That is, with one exception, the cover version of Two Tribes (Frankie Goes to Hollywood), a surprise choice of songs to metalize. I didn't think that this song's structure fitted in with the "Kill II This" style very well at all. It is pretty well even paced through-out and it sounded kinda dull, where as their best songs have all benefited from the opportunity to burst out killer riffs interspersed with pace changes and loads of character. The song doesn't lend itself to Matt Pollock's gruff hard vocals, it likes the more effeminate Holly Johnson dynamics to make it complete. Besides that, after you have heard their KICK-ASS version of "Burn" (Deep Purple), on the first album all other covers pale into insignificance (Bigup to Mark, massive respect). |
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| As the set progressed, the band gave their usual high standard professional performance, putting in a huge amount of effort, especially Mark who did his habitual facial contortions whilst exaggerating the lyrics and like an unmaskable interrupt, issuing the directive. There were a number of suggestions by Matt and Mark to start a circle mosh, but alas it was not to be, however there was copious amounts of diving into the mosh pit. All quite successful except for Charlotte regular "James", who managed to 'fall-off' the wave onto the very solid stone floor (ouch). Macho-man that he is, he got up smiling. And talking of smiles, it was noticeable just how many of them came from the band, they really do seem to enjoy themselves up there, I got one from Caroline and Mark …… |
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| I have to say that "Kill II This" were fucking excellent
(as usual). This band are one of the new breed of British bands that have come up the hard
way and know what it is to be out there in the crowd. They exist and perform for us and
that comes across in the show. That on top of a wealth of talent and professionalism that
matches anything that can be found in the USA, we should be proud and support these "wild
and crazy guys"… Rigsby. Note: All live pictures of the band are the property of Rigsby and may only be used with prior permission.
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Kill II This are: |
The Spring, 2000
UK dates were: 11th April - Bristol, Fleece & Firkin 12th April - Sheffield, University 13th April - Liverpool, Lomax 14th April - Rugeley, Red Rose 15th April - London, Highbury Garage 16th April - Norwich, Waterfront 17th April - Peterborough, Metropolis 18th April - Birmingham, XLs 19th April - Hull, Wellington 20th April - Manchester, Hop & Grape 21st April - Glasgow, Cathouse 22nd April - Nottingham, Rock City |
23rd April - Colchester, Arts Centre 24th April - Dudley, JBs 25th April - Hanley, Sugarmill 26th April - Northampton, Roadmenders 27th April - Leicester, Princess Charlotte 28th April - Bradford, Rios 29th April - Tunbridge Wells, Forum 30th April - Portsmouth, Wedgewood Rooms 1st May - Exeter, Cavern 2nd May - Brighton, East Wing 3rd May - Milton Keynes, Woughton Centre |
