Sub89 – Caught in the Crossfire

BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME
w/ Periphery, The Safety Fire
Sub89, Reading
01.10.12

First on tonight’s bill is the home-grown talent The Safety Fire. The London lads play to a fairly full room considering they go on straight after doors. It seems the ever increasing crowd appreciates The Safety Fire’s techy-brand of metal and although not too familiar with the material played before them, the audiences’ reaction to songs taken from ‘Grind The Ocean‘ is positive, a promising sign for a band who are clearly targeting this market. On a completely irrelevant and non musical note, it has to be mentioned that The Safety Fire display facial hair at its finest. Their set was topped off with a glorious array well kept moustaches.

So away from male-grooming and back to music for a second or two, and its now Periphery‘s turn to take to the stage. With much loved drummer Matt Halpern being forced to withdraw from the performance due to a shoulder injury, a massive burden is placed upon the shoulders of Mike Malyan (Monuments) who has to learn the challenging set in 24 hours and perform to a hungry crowd. Well, the boy did good, there were no notable errors and he played with style, stamina and impressive levels of skill. And as for the rest of Periphery, well they owned the stage, it goes without saying Misha Mansoor was effortlessly exceptional and Spencer Sotelo domineered as a front man.

Between The Buried And Me really deserve to be playing to a sold out show but unfortunately the room is now only around three quarters full. Words cannot describe Between The Buried And Me’s levels of creativity, their captivating set travels through an odyssey of technical music; a progressive journey that climaxes with blistering riffs and intense vocals. Combing old favourites such as ‘Disease, Injury, Madness‘ (taken from ‘The Great Misdirect’) along with newer numbers like ‘Telos‘, BTBAM hold the audience in the palms of their hands. The band perform a masterclass, with a level of musicianship second to none.

Words: Emma Wallace

Your Demise
SUB89, Reading
14th August 2012

Your Demise at Reading’s Sub89 was a show made up of a mix of emotions; brilliant fun, nostalgic, painful and at times embarrassing. The embarrassment is really down to the crowd. At the start of Your Demise’s set they just aren’t into it. You wouldn’t think they have paid to see one of the UK’s most exciting bands that launch into their business all guns blazing, you’d think its some mediocre act that no one gives a damn about; the half empty room just doesn’t respond to the energy bouncing around on stage. Ed Mcrae does his very best to excite the crowd, and part way through the show, his efforts begin to pay off. His ability to entice some action on a miserable midweek show is definitely an asset and no matter what people may think of Mcrae on a musical or personal level, he is showing classic traits of a skilled showman.

Earlier this year, Your Demise dropped ‘The Golden Age‘ an album that divided opinions to say the least, with the main stream of criticism coming from older fans despising the poppier sounding tracks such as ‘These Lights‘. However, Your Demise clearly love ‘The Golden Age‘ and enjoy performing it. Its great to see a band sticking to their guns, Mcrae shouts, ‘Recently we dropped a record, ‘The Golden Age’, and there’s nothing you can fucking do about it!‘. The band needn’t worry though, as tonight, ‘These Lights‘ is triumphant. After his hard work hyping the crowd, Mcrae is in his element as the younger generation of Your Demise and hardcore fans lap up the high tempo track.

Considering the crowd were so dull at the start of the Your Demise’s set, the polar opposite response for ‘Burnt Tongues‘ is electrifying. Taken from one of the bands earlier albums ‘Ignorance Never Dies‘, the simplicity of the song unites the audience in movement. ‘Miles Away‘ keeps up the intensity as crowd surfers start to fly over the barrier. Set closer ‘The Kids We Used To Be‘ is euphoric. Looking around it’s hard to spot anyone not screaming lyrics, ‘So let’s bring back the best years. Nights spent hanging out. Not giving a fuck….‘. It’s a sincere reminder to cherish the good moments in life.

Yet its bizarre how quickly events can change, one minute everyone is having the time of the life, the next the sound cuts out and bassist Jimmy Sampson is crying for help. It appears in the chaotic, high energy end to the set, Ed Mcrae has hurt himself; badly. ‘He’s dislocated his knee!’ Another band member shouts and poor Ed is dragged off the side of the stage to receive medical assistance.

The lights go up and background music plays through the club’s PA. The crowd leave in dismay, contemplating what just happened. Its such a shame the show ended on a downer after all the effort the band put in to to raise the tempo. Your Demise won over a boring audience mainly due to Ed Mcrae putting in a stellar performance. However their commitment won’t go unnoticed, this crowd will be back for more at another Your Demise show as punters walk away from Sub89 still hungry for more.

Words & Photo: Emma Wallace