Slab/ I Hate You More - Bollocks To Poverty gig - Scruffy Murphy's - 21st March 2008

Charity gig to raise monies for the "Bollocks To Poverty" cause - check out the myspace site! Effectively it's to do with HIV/AIDS and Demand A Hunger-Free Planet and is touring the UK as we speak. Tonight's offerings were...

Hanya. Brave move and much respect to you. Accoustic set of guitar and vocals which in darts parlance didn't receive the best of order. Having said that a semi-accoustic set would probably have been more sensible. Tell you what though, she can scream with the best of them...

I Hate You More. Thanks to Phil for the CD (played it on the way home and it slays!), Jay for the drumstick and Nick for the setlist. Greg don't feel left out! Tonight was the fourth time I've seen them in six months and boy have they improved. That's not to say they were anything other than solid in the first place, they are getting more cohesive with each performance. Reminiscent of Machine Head at their peak, but with plenty of subtle tempo changes. Haven't seen Nick so laid back on stage before but he revelled in churning out the riffs. The rhythm section of Jay and Greg is as reliable as ever; Jay continues to batter the living daylights out of his kit (how does the snare withstand your onslaught?!) and Greg makes the bass duties seem effortless. Phil is an affable frontman and more than competent rhythm guitarist. So I've set the scene, tonight's setlist was "Bloodshed", "Shame Will Be My Forgiveness", "Decide", "Angry Blood", "Shattered Existence", "Crossed The Line", "Retrospect" and "Chokehold" before the inevitable encore "Unlock The Hatred" (title track of the forthcoming album and an absolute belter!). I genuinely hope your album sells well - it should. Keep producing performances of this quality and you will be playing Academy-size venues, and bigger, very soon. Stick at it fellas and let me know when you are next playing!

Slab. I bump into Jake on a very regular basis on the Birmingham gig circuit yet tonight was the first time I've had the chance to see a live performance. Well worth the wait! Blimey do they make a row for a three piece! Simplistically you would describe them as a hardcore/industrial band, but they combine so many styles that this tag is unfair. Set was delivered savagely. "Chaos Bastard" got things underway. I like the studio version, but this really comes into it's own live. The main riff is nothing short of spectacular. Next up was "Yi Zi Er Shi" followed by "Vines", "Devilwalk" and "Conspiracy" all from the recent album. They aired a new song "Shot In The Street" which was delivered like an old classic (and in time it will be..) before closing the set with "Tetradon." Just time for an encore "Bury My Dog" which was stunning. Quality musicians with a bit of luck they will hit the big time soon.

First visit to Scruffy Murphy's as a concert venue and pleasantly surprised. Accoustics are good and despite a very low stage riser the view of the bands is good (although I was,as usual,right at the front!). Vocals for both bands were a bit low but overall the sound was mixed well. Two excellent performances tonight and impossible to separate them for band of the night. Go and see them unleashing their fury as soon as you get a chance - I Hate You More and Slab are superb live and hopefully 2008 will propel them onwards and upwards.