Review of Sound of Guns supported by Lost City Soul and Defcon One at the Ironworks – 21st October 2011
Live music’s a funny business. I’d listened to Sound of Guns briefly on Spotify in the few days leading up to their gig at the Ironworks and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t exactly all that impressed – instead I was looking forward to Defcon One, a band I’d briefly heard at Mad Hatters a week or so earlier. It wouldn’t have been the first time I’d enjoyed a support act in preference to a headliner. I’m listening to them again as I type this and it’s quite strange how my perception of them has changed since seeing them live.
To start with, we had the local support of Defcon One, starting a strong set with “Life On TV” – a song, perhaps slightly premature in the band’s career, about the the pitfalls of celebrity – and only let up with the high energy performance during “Hunting For Angels”. Having read their Facebook page and looking at a few of their influences, I must say I’m surprised the Editors are not mentioned – the similarity between them is remarkable, to my ears at least, and particularly when it came to the vocals. All in all, a top-notch performance, and a great start to the night.
Unfortunately, only a select few hardcore music fans seemed all that interested in the main support, the rest preferring to prop up the bar throughout, while Lost City Soul’s lead singer/guitarist Alan Turner’s offer of fellatio to those willing to come toward the barrier did not have the desired effect initially, the Dundonian band’s charm eventually did. The standout track for me was “Bubble”, inexplicably sounding both epic and funky at the same time, whilst new single “Ghost” also proved popular despite a slight drumstick malfunction half-way through.
By the time Sound of Guns took to the stage a decent crowd had become suitably confident (drunk?) enough to really engage with the band and the music, which was very much a good thing. Spending much of his time on the steps on the other side of the barrier, lead singer Andrew Metcalfe’s performance was a master class on how to win over the hearts and minds of any crowd, and the effort was well worth it with the band clearly humbled by the response they received in return. On more than one occasion you could visibly see shock turn to awe in the faces of the band members as the audience continued to chant the chorus for a while before taking the more traditional route of cheers and applause. “F***ing hell!” noted Metcalfe at one point, “That’s only the second time we’ve played that song”.
I think this modesty is what makes the band so much more likable. The music, at least to me, isn’t particularly interesting or unique, but it’s the delivery that has elevated the performance to the next level, and thanks to the enthusiasm from all the ticket holders I think a return to the Highlands for the Liverpudlian five-piece is a fairly safe bet.
Set List
Elementry of Youth
Sometimes
Breakwater
Silicon
Lightspeed
106 (Still The Words)
Magnesium Seas [Acoustic]
Collisions [Acoustic]
Antartica
Bullets in the Bloodstream
The Leaning
Architects
Written by Thomas Bissett
Photos by Thomas Bissett
Further photos of the event here
Thanks as always to The Ironworks
