ONE MINUTE SILENCE and FONY - live review @ The Charlotte, Leicester, England (20/1/2003)

This is easily the busiest that we have ever seen the Charlotte, it is simply rammed full of people and before a single note has been played, it’s already bloody warm in here. It’s really good to see so many people come out to a show and it’s quite rewarding after being to so many gigs here when the audience struggles to make double figures. Despite Fony forgetting about their guests [guest-lists really are a treat for us] and resulting in an unexpected early parting with the evenings drink money (not helped at all by the usual miserable and unhelpful door staff - they do the venue proud), we were set for a good evenings entertainment.

After a prolonged wait, Fony take to the stage for the beginning of a 35 minutes set. Starting with a new - and as yet untitled song - they burst into highly energetic action. These guys are really enthusiastic and right from the outset put everything into their performance and with the new track being so upbeat, it doesn’t take long to get the audience fired-up. They’re soon into ‘Routine Irregular’ but the vocals struggle a little particularly compared to the studio work and it was something that we noted last time we saw them live. Following on with ‘Sleep The Dollar’ played at a scorching pace and then a rare outing for ‘Fait Accompi’, which they haven’t played live since it was recorded for the album a year ago. So as not to disappoint and to pick the pace back up again, crowd favourite ‘Chore Again’ is next which pleases the masses, then they finish a good set with ‘RIUP’ and ‘Make Shift’.

"So here we are on tour with One Minute Silence.
Fuck - How cool is that?"

OLLY G (VOCALS) - FONY

This was a good performance by Fony, maybe to begin with they were a little loose at times but they soon tightened up as the set progressed, however the heat tested their fitness and at the end they understandably felt the pace. Their easily accessible and jumpy style of modern metal went down well tonight and appeals to a similar audience to that of One Minute Silence preparing the crowd successfully and making the whole gig a well-balanced affair.

NOTE: Talking to the band afterwards - yes, we’re still prepared to talk despite them costing us our beer money - they say that in addition to the new song played tonight there’s loads of ideas for new material. They hope to get it down and record something maybe around November time, still on Casket Records (Copro).

It seemed like ages before the main band of the night - One Minute Silence - took to the stage. With just the two bands playing tonight there seemed to be a lot more time just standing around waiting and with no money to spend on beer or band merch it did drag. However, it was well worth the wait as it’s always the utmost pleasure to see this band live and tonight they didn’t let us down.

Making a welcome return to the live scene - it must be two years since we saw them last - they were greeted by a crazy crowd that was literally packed to the rafters. It seemed crammed during Fony’s set but on reflection that was spacious as hordes more people were pushing through to the stage as Yap announced the bands pleasure to be back. You could be forgiven for thinking the crowd were glad to see them with chants of "O…M…S" boomed around the room. As the opening notes of "Rise and Shine" filled the air and as soon as the words "My God it’s good to see ya" were heard, the chants changed to match and it got even more frenzied, but it was when the song kicked in proper - fuck, the place exploded.

They were back and it’s as if they'd never been away, as they launched into their new single entitled ‘Revolution’ which was the first of six new songs tonight. It contains such a great chorus, the crowd really took to it and they were still jumping well into the next song, which was another new one with a title I missed. It was a slow brooding song that built up to intense sections before simmering nicely and very melodically.

Then it was time for what Yap classed as "Old Skool One Minute Silence" with ‘Stuck Between A Rock And A White Face’. The older songs went down really well and instigated the most violence, this song in particular had everyone in the room moving whether you wanted to or not. ‘Holy Man’ was then dedicated "…to all our friends in Afghanistan and Iraq" and complete with the sampled intro was just excellent.

Then it’s back to the classics with ‘16 Stone Pig’ including the adjusted and topical lyrics of "We could go to war - You never know what life is gonna throw at you". After this song, Yap mentions that they have received some criticisms from some journalist about him being out of breath when singing and goes into a rant (just one of three or four that he typically and enjoyably has between songs). But it’s my turn as I am writing this - who gives a fuck what this person thinks, whoever it was has missed the whole point of One Minute Silence. They should take some advice and don’t write about a subject they clearly know fuck all about. Those comments simply provide adequate proof that they are nothing more than a poor example of their trade and give many good writers a bad name - end of rant.

‘Fish Out Of Water’ follows after which Glen is involuntary sick - noticeably he is very quiet all night. Time for another new song called ‘We Bounce’ which is quick paced and classic OMS which is suitably followed by an existing classic - ‘South Central’. The pit has been furious all night and Yap organises another circle pit before the next song, but as the beginning of ‘1845’ thunders out it turns into the worlds first Triangle pit! This song brings the crowd back to the boil and the pit action is truly manic. Unconventionally, they end on a new song called (I think) 'Front Line' and this is the first time this song has ever been played live. It’s a great metal song that’s fantastically heavy and has an incredibly infectious riff which is instantly enjoyable and this puts a real shine on an excellent gig by one of the best live bands your ever likely to witness.

It doesn’t get much better than this - worth every penny of anyone’s beer money - and the look of satisfaction on the faces as they left the venue told the story. Throughout this gig the audience was always involved and participated to the max with loads of stage diving, moshing, bouncing, jumping, shouting and just general merriment. Everyone was knackered and had definitely overheated, but everyone looked happy and that’s what it’s all about!

Rigsby
www.iwillbeheard.co.uk

One Minute Silence are: Vocals - Brian 'Yap' Barry Drums - Eddie Stratton Bass - Glen Diani Guitar - Massy Fiocco	The January 2003 UK mini-tour dates were: 20th (Monday) - Charlotte, Leicester, ENGLAND 21st (Tuesday) - Cathouse, Glasgow, SCOTLAND 22nd (Wednesday) - Hop & Grape, Manchester, ENGLAND 23rd (Thursday) - Arts Centre, Colchester, ENGLAND 24th (Friday) - Barfly, Camden, London, ENGLAND 25th (Saturday) - Phoenix, Exeter, ENGLAND 26th (Sunday) - Arts Centre, Salisbury, ENGLAND
[ BACK ] [ MAIN ]