By Any Means with support from Axecatcher, Lantern For A Gale and Gacys Threads
Sunday 23rd September 2012 – Voodoo, Belfast
Taking to the stage first tonight, supporting ‘By Any Means’ on the very last show of their week long European tour is Limavady-based Hardcore Punk trio ‘Axecatcher’ Attracting a small mosh pit around the stage in the dark venue, they belt out thrashing grungy drumbeats and punk like rocky guitar riffs – sounding somewhat influenced by Nirvanas’ very early ‘Bleach’ album with a hint of Sum 41 thrown into the mix. The boys really get these rockers going, encouraging the small crowd to continue using their neck muscles leaving the punters warmed up nicely for the next hardcore act to follow.
Exploding onto the stage and embracing the moshpit is ‘Lantern for a Gale’. They have brought in quite a few dedicated followers tonight as many of the boozy punters are sporting T-shirts possessing the bands’ name. As vocalist Paul runs riot in the middle of the mosh pit, he growls down the microphone with his raspy vocals as many of the punters throw their long hair back and forward in appreciation. The band creates a huge mass of noise that will almost certainly leave all our eardrums ringing right into the wee hours of the morning.
As ‘Gacys Threads‘ take to the stage, vocalist Blane immediately encourages the moshers to come closer and the pit grows to allow Blane to scream directly into the rockers faces. Their set list contains songs such as ‘Weighed Down,’ and ‘One Answer’ as the band humbly thank the punters for coming along to their last show of their European tour. Blane tells tales of their tour and why you shouldn’t visit Holland if you still want your drummer to be able to drum – the punters laugh and throw some banter back to the band before they begin to draw their set to a close with ‘Blackheart’ – a song that’s packed to the absolute rafters with heavy drumbeats and ultimate hardcore tune-age. It is certainly a favourite here tonight as Blane joins the moshers in the sea of sweat and beer. These guys have almost made Slipknot sound like One Direction tonight.
Making their hugely anticipated appearance on stage and playing a homecoming show after a week-long European tour is ‘By Any Means’ As the band stomp on to the stage they certainly put the ‘hard’ into ‘hardcore’ as the now large crowd start to throw some shapes in the name of rock. Guitarist Paul tells the punters to keep coming closer; pointing out that it’s a punk gig before insulting having some insulting words for emos. Vocalist David growls into the microphone which seems to encourage many of the rockers onto the stage to join the rest of the band. He then passes the mic around the fans who embrace the opportunity by screeching down the mic to ‘The Omen’ as the rest of the band continue to jam on with the gutsy guitar riffs and brain frying bass-lines. Even this reviewer is subconsciously moshing along! As the crowd chant for more, the band continues to their encore. They humbly tell the fans that this has been their best show. The band played exceptionally well tonight and in my mind, these guys are THE ultimate hardcore band and would certainly be very welcome back at Voodoo anytime.
