#299: RIFFS & RUM - LIVE AT REBELLION BAR, MANCHESTER

TEN FOOT WAVE

CLENSTCH

THE BENDAL INTERLUDE

FANTASIST

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TEN FOOT WAVE

Riffs & Rum was yet another incredible Metal show in Manchester that delivered exactly what it promised, with attendees getting free shots of rum on entry, and of course plenty of riffs! For just £5, this night drew a very large crowd by the end of the night, with lots of familiar faces who love to support their local Metal scene.

Opening the night was a bunch of funky pirates playing their (kind of) first ever show! Ten Foot Wave is a brand new surf rock version of Stoner Metal favourites Ten Foot Wizard, featuring the same band members doing 50s Surf Rock versions of their songs plus covers and new song entirely!

Ten Foot Wave certainly warmed up an otherwise typically wet and cold night in Manchester! They were dressed the part with their shades, shorts and Hawaiian shirts on. It was obvious from the first tune that these guys have a genuine passion for surf rock, giving it that real guitar twang and whammy. They covered Wizard favourites such as "Railwave Shuffle" and "Covered In Surf", and whilst they were recognisable if you know the originals, it was cool how they managed to surf them up. They ended their set with an obligatory cover of surf anthem "Wipeout" which got all the ladies in the front dancing.

This was very entertaining for a first(ish) performance, and where it could have came off as novelty, it actually showed that Ten Foot Wizard have both a broadened sense of music taste and sense of humour! This performance was much more restrained physically than your average Ten Foot Wizard show (sorry, no megaphones and Theremin solos this time), but you could tell the crowd really dug it and boogied on down. The performance was entirely instrumental, which worked fine, but I would love to see some Beach Boys-esque harmonies added into the mix in the future! 8/10.

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CLENSTCH

Our second act of the night had travelled from Leeds and are a 2 piece heavy Math Rock band. The drummer set up a kit right at the front of the stage. From the very first moment, this duo were H.E.A.V.Y!!! I didn't expect two guys to make such a noisy racket! Drummer Steve absolutely smacked the shit out of the kit, and he and the bassist would hit you in the face with dual roaring and growling vocals. I noticed the bassist had a large pedal board that allowed him to add very noisy textures into the mix. Clenstch's songs are built from constantly shifting Math Rock riffs that often change up time signatures without warning. The bassist had a great mix of riffs, from funky twanging bass to full on crushing Sludge riffs and noisy rawkus outbursts. Even though it was heavy and noisy as all hell, they would even occasionally find some melodic hooks, making it a sound that was so unpredictable. The last song they performed was a lengthy proggy joint that threw in so many styles and changes, it was just glorious. They brought acts such as Shellac and Lightning Bolt to mind, without really sounding like either.

The biggest impression that Clenstch left me with, other than their awesome rhythm busting songs, was how insanely energetic and passionate the two were. The drummer especially would be doing really complex drum parts whilst screaming 'til he was red in the face. It's one thing for this two piece to play this incredibly tight and fast music, but they made it look so easy and fun. By the end of their set they looked like they were drenched in sweat and out of breath. These two put everything into their performance and it was a joy from start to finish! 9/10.

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THE BENDAL INTERLUDE

Tonight was a special evening for Liverpool based Doom Metal quartet The Bendal Interlude, as they were celebrating their 13th birthday as a band! After a spoken word sampled intro, they kicked into a monumentally slow Doom riff that got the large Rebellion crowd headbanging instantly. The songs that followed were slightly faster tempo numbers that often showed a Southern NOLA influenced guitar sound and groove based killer riffs. This four piece had a very punchy sound that was laced with the raw, demented screams of frontman Nat. The band had a lot of energy and a super pissed off mentality in all their songs.

One thing that makes The Bendal Interlude unique is their use of sampling, which their vocalist performs live on a tiny keyboard/sampler. Similar to acts like Fear Factory, Most of their songs would include spoken word samples, probably taken from films. Though if I am honest I found it quite hard to make out the samples as they were a little buried in the mix tonight, but I like the idea of adding it into their live sound using triggers.

The Bendal Interlude may have been hit by the free bottles of rum, as they seemed a little unhinged at times. In a bizarre move, their bassist even stopped to piss into a cup between songs! But the crowd seemed really into their performance and they had enough meaty riffs to keep us headbanging the whole way through! 8/10.

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FANTASIST

The Fantasist trio came out dressed up in 1930s Mobster attire to perform their first gig of the year. Fantasist are always a very fun and energetic band, bringing back influences of Funk and Nu-Metal without sounding especially dated. When you see them play you instantly notice how incredibly talented each band member is. All of them (even the drummer) trade off vocal parts, with guitarist Oli working his way around the fretboard and bassist Rob doing some seriously skilled slap bass and even tapping solos! The Fantasist boys really upped the high energy already set by the opening bands, and the packed out Rebellion crowd were going crazy dancing and headbanging to their insane songs. Like Clenstch before them, Fantasist always have an air of unpredictability in their songs, bringing to mind early SOAD and Incubus at times, but they have also now when to bring the intensity down with a killer melodic chorus.

Fantasist played a new song which had a Faith No More kind of vibe to it, and one of the big stand outs for me was "Holes In the Ground" that had a mad Tom Waits circus stomp to it! After a storming set of original songs, Fantasist let their hair down a little and really got the party going with 4 awesome cover songs. The first of these was a funky rendition of Michael Jackson's "Black or White", which even saw Rob pulling off the rap section! Then followed an awesome Valentine's Day weekend appropriate cover of Phil Collins' "Easy Lover", which they really made their own. We were then surprised to an ultra cheese heavy version of power ballad "I Want It All" by Queen, before finally closing us with a Rap Rock rendition of Beastie Boys classic "Fight For Your Right". The crowd went crazy for these songs, proving that throwing in a well known cover version is always a good crowd pleaser. This closed off an incredibly confident, warm and energetic gig from a band who always deliver a high quality show! 9/10.

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After four quality bands and countless shots of rum, the craziness continued well into the early hours with a Metal disco featuring all the classics from Metallica to Sabbath, and Marilyn Manson to Slipknot. There was so much positive energy in the air and everyone was dancing, moshing and having an awesome time. Inflatable guitars were even handed out amongst the crowd so people could air guitar along! Another fantastic night proving the North West Metal scene has reached an unstoppable momentum!

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February 13th 2016 @ Rebellion Bar, Manchester. Photos by Rich Smith for Digital Bath.