29 March 2012 (gig)
03 April 2012
It’s good to know that there are some venues that deliver the same level of standard and the same level of hard rock as always, sometimes even more.
Take the Intrepid Fox, for example. While the state of the toilets always has been (and always will be) a disgrace with no level of standard whatsoever, at least the music, live bands and general goth-rock/metal ambience make up for it.
However, UK’s The Burning Crows are a case in point when it comes to ‘even more’ and ‘make up for it’, for their recent slot at said venue was performed with so much fury and gusto, hell wouldn’t have a chance to freeze over with that lot dwelling below!
Storming onto stage like the four riders of the apocalypse, frontman Whippz and his wild bunch wasted little time with introductions, and first number ‘Slow up, Get Down’ got asses moving real fast in the crammed upstairs room. It wasn’t as much of a warming-up process as it was a full exercise in rockin’ fury.
While bassist Will Lockett was engulfed in dry ice throughout most of the song (you could hear him clearer than you could see him), drummer Chris Chapman kept on banging away on his kit, seemingly happy in his own bubble.
Meanwhile, Whippz and second guitarist Lance Daniels mercilessly worked their instruments while strutting attitude with thrusting moves and phallic guitar poses. Not that they needed to, but it’s part and parcel of the job I take it.
‘Falling Down’ in particular turned out to be a rather acrobatic display – with Whippz turning his back at the crowd, then bending over backwards (face towards crowd) while continuing to play and to sing. Not one wrong pitch, not a chord out of tune! With a talent like that, he can always join the circus as a rockin’ contortionist, should the band ever disband.
Not wishing to be outdone, the others followed suit, with Lance twisting and turning in a 270 degree angle, and Will (now visible again) speedily whirling his head in a manner that would give Linda Blair a run for her money.
“Wanna get high?” shouted Whippz to announce the next number ‘High’, though thanks to the stench of sweat and spilled beer, the crowd seemed on a ‘high’ already. Imagine a live rock n roll scenario of Hogarth’s print ‘Beer Street’ and you get the idea!
Equally fast, yet skilfully played and sung, were ‘Going Down’ and ‘Best Damn Everything’. The songs can be found on the band’s recently released EP ‘Never Had It So Good’. On disc they already sound impressive but when performed live, the vibe you get is even more electrifying. Mind you, throwing in the odd rock ballad wouldn’t hurt either.
It was nearly time for the evening’s main act, hard rockers Hornet, but the Crows managed to squeeze in one more track, ‘You. Me. Tonight’ – blazing across stage (sans Mr. Chapman) and proving that here is an impressive high-energy rock act that should have no problems filling larger venues.
