Adam Waugh – Caught in the Crossfire

La Dispute/Title Fight
The Garage, London
20th September 2012

From the get go, Title Fight had the audience exactly where they wanted them. Everyone was ferocious, and as eager to sing along with vocalist, Jamie Rhoden. The crowd, ever so relentless, couldn’t help themselves but to climb on the stage at every opportunity.

At any one given time, there were at least three fans either climbing on the stage, or diving off. At first, it was quite cool; fans showing their support and singing along, forgetting about the bruises and jumping into the pit, but the novelty factor soon wore off. If not for the Title Fights’s musicianship, it would’ve been difficult putting up with such distractions. It was impressive to see them pull of a flawless set in the midst of cables being ripped off mics, and roadies on call every few minutes to fix a stand or make sure nothing else was damaged. Gang chants are one thing, but to have the crowd to sing, more like shout, to every word in the set was something else.

Title Fight occasionally drifted off in an almost shoegaze-esque fashion, taking the crowd with them in these calm moments before the storm reappeared. The set list was filled with songs from their debut album ‘Shed’, EP ‘The Last Thing You Forget’, and not forgetting tracks from latest release ‘Floral Green‘. Title Fight pulled of an awesome performance, despite the over eager and somewhat off-putting crowd.

The crowd, the energy, the feel and the atmosphere refined to a less destructive and a more aware audience as heroes La Dispute emerge. The hardcore kids seem to have got crowd surfing out of their systems. La Dispute just make the crowd listen and hang on to every word.

La Dispute, one of bands which make up “The Wave” which have taken Post-Hardcore by storm and stand out because of the their eclectic styles and lyrical content, with the majority of their songs based on true events, accounts and retelling of old stories which they’ve acquired from meeting various people on their travels. And this is precisely why the songs are so gripping. And despite being sad they’re honest memento’s to lives once lived.

Tonight’s set list was varied, covering material from the acclaimed albums ‘Somewhere At The Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair’ and the most recent ‘Wildlife‘. The show started of with all out bruised bodies and the whole heart shrinks which perfectly exemplifies Jordan Dreyer’s vocal styling, from starting off like a spoken word poem and drifting off to screaming out the rest.

They played, for the first time live, ‘St Paul’s Missionary Baptist Church Blues‘ which was a hit with the crowd. But the outstanding song of the night, one that’s rarely played was ‘Andria’ .

After charging through a truly awesome and emotional set. La Dispute re-emerged for a two song encore. ‘Most Beautiful Bitter Fruit’ and ‘King Park’ which left the crowd roaring out loud “Can I still get in to heaven if i kill myself”. La Dispute need to hit our shores more often, too many people missed out on tonight due to the intimate venue size, plus there are many more epic songs to be heard live.

Words: Arif Noor
Photos: Adam Waugh

B Dolan Portrait B.DOLAN’S CHURCH OF LOVE & RUIN TOUR
Feat: B.Dolan, Sage Francis, Madge of Honor, The What Cheer Bridage, Dan Le Sac
Sub89, Reading
06th September 2012

*FULL GALLERY FEATURE BELOW*

As Dan Le Sac wrapped up his triumphant home town DJ set, there came an alarming sound from the back of the venue. A procession appears and they kept on coming, taking everyone by surprise like an ambush. Masked and covered in zombie-like make-up, the marching band arrives from all angles. Drums, cowbells, trumpets, flutes, it was a complete free for all in the intimate venue and the crowed were left in utter shock…

They have no interest in the stage, as far as they’re concerned, the whole venue is a stage. So the crowd dodges drum sticks, ducks under the dude with the massive trombone and dances along with the band. What an into. It was something special.

As the the tempo slowed down the band started to lower themselves to the ground, kneeling, then eventually sitting down, taking everyone with them. Now that’s the 1st time I’ve ever seen a room full of people, at a gig, boogieing their buts off whilst actually sitting down!

They eventually found the stage. But not until after the percussionists had sat chanting together in the centre of the venue like a tribe from the depths of the amazon rainforest. They then did laps getting everyone involved. Reading’s Sub89 was treated like a carnival. We were all in shock. What the heck was that, who are these guys B Dolan found? They are, The What Cheer Brigade.

Its clear straight away that ‘The Church of Love and Ruin’ tour is an experience, not you’re average concert. None of the tedious waiting around whilst each performer finishes their set. After What Cheer left for the back-room, there is an interim performance, B Dolan welcomes the next act on tonight’s bill, Madge of Honor, a burlesque artist. “Does anyone know what burlesque is? It is the art of ass and titties” says Dolan as Madge takes the stage and deliverers her somewhat titillating performance

B Dolan reappears dressed in a robe, with an ornate cross around his neck and black wayfarer sunglasses. He is the pope, the priest of the Church of Love & Ruin. He takes the stage, the bass drops, and he does what he does best, the lyrical mastermind keeps the audience engaged for the next hour. Delivering the best of the best from his albums ‘The Failure’ and ‘Fallen House, Sunken City’. He also opts for the controversial, yet hilarious ‘Open Letter to JT’.

Meanwhile Sage Francis comes on stage dressed like a Biblical shepherd, with a cloak and a white scarf around his head, and of course sporting his legendary lengthy beard. If all shepherds could rap like that, they’d be a force to be reckoned with! The mix of spoken word poetry and and hip-hop was received well by the audience, Finished off with the gripping fan favorite, ‘Best of Times.’

The Church of Love & Ruin is going to be an experience which will be hard to forget!
Dan Le Sac Sub 89