Gigs

Gig Review: 36 Crazyfists + Exit Ten

[Venue: The Junction, Cambridge]
[Date: 17 June 2008]

There are high expectations tonight with only two bands on the bill, but the Crazyfist boys don’t disappoint with their choice of support act. Exit Ten have toured alongside a roster of bands that reads like a who’s who of top-notch metal - Sikth, Every Time I Die, Protest The Hero, Blindside, Soilwork… the list goes on.

Despite this, the audience don’t really seem to get into their performance – but what a performance. Vocalist Ryan Redman never skips a beat, his soaring vocals never anything short of impeccable. There’s a definite Killswitch influence in the melodic metalcore riffing of the guitars, and there’s plenty of missed opportunities for brutal pitting which the band deserved to take hold of. A couple of audience members are clearly E10 fans and Ryan wastes no time in diving into the audience, microphone first, to duet with them. All in all their performance is electric, epic, and woefully underappreciated.

36 Crazyfists were always going to get the response they deserved. Having toured for what seems like decades, amassing a loyal fanbase, the Alaskan five-piece get a heroes welcome at a venue baying for blood… and blood they get. From the explosion of new single ‘We Gave It Hell’, through innumerable classics spanning their illustrious back-catalogue, coming to a dramatic close with Resident Evil soundtrack single ‘Bloodwork’. There are two constants running throughout the show – there’s an enormous pit for every song and vocalist Brock Lindow’s grin never disappears. Here’s a man who clearly enjoys the finer things in life – drinking, young ladies, and loud fucking music. He bellows his way, formidably, through the set only stopping to make sure we’re having a good time and to talk the bar staff into keeping the bar open “for at least an hour” after the show.

There was only ever going to be one encore song and Brock knows it. “You know when you go into a club”, he begins, “and then a song comes on and you go, ‘oh fuck, not this again?’ You know, it’s a great song, but you’ve heard it like a million times and you’re totally sick of it?” The crowd gives a knowing roar and ten seconds later everybody in the crowd is punching each other. Welcome to ‘Slit Wrist Theory’, the reason the NHS A&E department is always so overcrowded. The kids in the venue come just shy of killing themselves and, with band and audience beaming, retire to the bar for some well-earned drinking. Awesome.

For fans of: Million Dead, Killswitch Engage, Atreyu
Band links = 36 Crazyfists | Exit Ten

Previous & Next

Copyright © 2008-2009 Sonic Dice. | T & C