Chordblossom
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
    • Music Reviews
    • Live Reviews
  • Features
    • Articles
    • Festivals
    • Fresh NI Music
    • Interviews
    • Introducing
    • Win
  • Media
    • Playlists
    • Photosets
    • Podcast
    • Sessions
    • Transmission
    • TV
  • Kickstart
  • Chordblossom Gigs
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
    • Mailing List
    • Vacancies
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
    • Music Reviews
    • Live Reviews
  • Features
    • Articles
    • Festivals
    • Fresh NI Music
    • Interviews
    • Introducing
    • Win
  • Media
    • Playlists
    • Photosets
    • Podcast
    • Sessions
    • Transmission
    • TV
  • Kickstart
  • Chordblossom Gigs
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
    • Mailing List
    • Vacancies
No Result
View All Result
Chordblossom
No Result
View All Result

Slaves – 4 November 2015

Caolán Coleman by Caolán Coleman
November 12, 2015
in Live Reviews
Slaves – 4 November 2015

Slaves with support from Baby Strange & Spring Kings
Wednesday 4th November 2015 – Limelight 1, Belfast

In the surprisingly crowed field of two-piece, guitar and drum only rock n roll combos, Kent duo Slaves has distinguished themselves via their refreshingly snotty punk attitude and snarky, state of the nation address lyrics. Singer/ drummer Isaac Holman’s barked delivery of said lines pushes Slaves closer to Nottingham vitriol merchants and critical heroes Sleaford Mods than Royal Blood, although Slaves opt for Laurie Vincent’s guttural garage rock riffs over the former’s primitive, Super Hans from Peepshow style electronic beats (the bands’ similarities have not been lost on Mod mouthpiece Jason Williamson, who recently called out the ‘fucking appalling’ Tunbridge Wells outfit in the NME for ‘ripping them off’).

ADVERTISEMENT

Said criticism has done little to stop the Slaves juggernaut, with their Mercury Award nominated debut ‘Are You Satisfied?’ debuting at no. 8 in the charts and singles ‘Where’s Your Car Debbie?’, ‘Feed The Mantaray’ and the anthemic ‘Cheer Up London’ enjoying regular airtime on the Radio 1 Playlist, and the boys brought their chaotic live show to a baying audience in Limelight 1 on November 4th.

The sizeable crowd was first treated to Manchester art punks Spring Kings, whose Wavves-esque single City was recently chosen by Zane Lowe to be the first ever song played on Apple’s Beats 1 Radio service, before the crowd began to swell in feverish anticipation during grungey Glasgow three-piece Baby Strange‘s energetic set. Slaves took to the stage around ten, with the shaved-headed Vincent looking resplendent in his white boiler suit, and Holman taking up position behind his stand up drum kit, resembling a Jesus and Mary Chain era Bobby Gillespie crossed with an extra from Jeremy Kyle. Bursting into the super sarcastic 2012 cut ‘White Knuckle Ride’, Slaves send the Limelight crowd into instant rapture, with seemingly the whole room bouncing to the song’s sing-along crescendo ‘What the fuck happened?’. It was clear that despite the band’s reputation for social commentary, the crowd were not interested in any political sermons and were here for an anarchic punk party, which Slaves gleefully delivered.

Furious mosh pits developed left, right and centre as the band tore through numbers such as ‘Traffic’, ‘Despair’ and ‘Live Like An Animal’. By the time ‘Where’s Your Car Debbie?’ came on, Holman was shirtless, the sweaty intensity of his brutal drumming and harsh vocals channelling a young Henry Rollins. Set highlight ‘Cheer Up London’ had the crowd screaming back every word at Holman, who was clearly delighted as the raw energy he and his band-mate put into their performance was mirrored by an equally psyched up crowd. Asking fans to refrain from using their phones during usual set opener ‘Ninety Nine’ only added to the gig’s primal atmosphere. Looking around at the furious kids leaping up and down on Limelight’s dancefloor, it was hard not to think of Belfast’s original punks who rioted following the Clash’s famous cancelled gig in ’77, and one got the sense that anything less than a full set by Slaves may have the same outcome.

Running through fan favourite ‘In Dog Years You’re Dead’ and their recently Radio 1 Live Lounge Skepta cover ‘Shut Down’, fans assembled a gargantuan mosh pit for the devastating finale of ‘Hey’, which the sweat drenched and clearly exhausted crowd giving every last thing they had into unleashing any leftover, pent-up fury. And with that, Slaves were away, not giving into the crowd calls for an encore of album cut ‘Feed the Mantaray.’ They had delivered an exhausting, hour long assault on their crowd’s senses, and like all great bands, left their audience reeling yet hungry for more.

Leave a Comment ⁞

Tags: Caolán ColemanLimelightLimelight 1Slaves
ShareTweetShareShareSendSend
Previous Post

Belfast Sludge/Fuzz Rockers Slomatics Sign to Black Bow Records

Next Post

Chordblossom Christmas Show In Aid of NI Children’s Hospice

Related Posts

Axis Of - Photo by Ebony Alexander
Live Reviews

Axis Of – 20 May 2022

May 23, 2022
More Than Conquerors – Farewell Show
Live Reviews

More Than Conquerors – 19th December 2019

January 2, 2020

Recent Posts

Dirt Byrds Band Photo

Dirt Byrds – Standing in Line

June 7, 2023
Best of Irish – May

Best of Irish – May

June 5, 2023
Fresh Music from Northern Ireland – May

Fresh Music from Northern Ireland – May

May 31, 2023

Twitter

Instagram

Follow

Spotify Playlist

Fresh Music From Northern Ireland

Mailing List

  • About Chordblossom
  • Kickstart
  • Music Reviews
  • Live Reviews
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Photos
  • Fresh Music From Northern Ireland Playlist
  • Chordblossom Gigs
  • Mailing List

© 2020 Chordblossom

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
    • Music Reviews
    • Live Reviews
  • Features
    • Articles
    • Festivals
    • Fresh NI Music
    • Interviews
    • Introducing
    • Win
  • Media
    • Playlists
    • Photosets
    • Podcast
    • Sessions
    • Transmission
    • TV
  • Kickstart
  • Chordblossom Gigs
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
    • Mailing List
    • Vacancies

© 2020 Chordblossom

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT