If you want to do a review of a concert you've been to recently, please email it to us at kevin@burieddreams.com. Please include the lineup, venue and date of the gig.

Clawfinger, Cold, Bullyrag
Fu Manchu, Spiritual Beggars
Orange Goblin, Lotus Lounge, Dying Sun

With the release of Clawfinger's new album surprisingly they have a tour, which I didn't know about until a friend gave me a ticket. I looked at the ticket and saw that it was at the Cathouse(Glasgow), this put a small downside to the gig as there is a pillar in the middle of the stage so that if you are situated at the wrong place you can't see anything.

Anyway onto the night of the gig I arrived late just in time to see Bullyrag finish their set, just as well as they didn't sound very good. They were a sort of reggae metal band and I didn't like it. Cold were slightly better but they were playing to a crowd who were worked up for Clawfinger so didn't seem to get much crowd reaction.

Then I made my way forward not to miss the Clawfinger set by being behind the pillar.
Clawfinger came on stage and played an absoulotely amazing gig, one of the best
I have been to. They have been critizied for have predictable songs with very repetative
choruses, but on the night I say that this helped them as even for the new songs
the crowd were getting right into it. The crowd went wild when they played some of the old
songs , such as 'The Truth', 'Warfair', and the new single 'THE BIGGEST AND THE BEST'.
By the end of the set I had just about killed my neck and was using the aformentioned pillar
to hold myself upright, (maybe it is not that bad to have the pillar there).

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Malky T

Having bought the Fu Manchu album on the morning of the gig, I wasn't really expecting them to be as good as their support, and I was proven correct. Out of  all the people I spoke to afterwards, not one thought the headliners compared to the intense, yet relaxed, Spiritual Beggars. SBs third album, 'Mantra III', is one of the best I've heard in ages. The excellent songwriting and stylish guitar work shine through, so I knew their gig would be something to remember.

Most bands these days get on the stage, play a few songs, get the crowd cheering, then piss off home. That's all very well but you might as well just sit at home and listen to a loud CD; Spiritual Beggars have so much more to offer. Not only does the intensity of their music get the crowd going, but you can see the band are actually enjoying themselves as they play, often improvising along the way. It had the kind of draw I imagine a Jimi Hendrix concert would have had in his time. Despite the fact that the crowd had probably never heard them before, there were lots of people really getting into it, much more so than with most support bands of similar stature. It was certainly a gig to remember, I hope they come back soon. ALL HAIL SPIRITUAL BEGGARS!!

To be honest there was no way Fu Manchu could possible compete with what came before, a shame for them really as they are quite a good band. In fact, they are probably one of the few bands that can get away with opening with an instrumental as they did. Unfortunately the gig has similar criticisms to the album: the songs are just too similar. OK so it's not as bad as many bands I could mention, but when you're standing around for an hour listening to what sounds like about 2 or 3 different songs it gets a bit boring. It doesn't help that the sheer volume makes them sound similar also. Still, the crowd liked it, and I would definitely pay to see them again. I just hope they build upon their strengths but diversify a bit for their next album, they have the potential to do a lot more.

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Kevin

Picture 1           Picture 2          Picture 3

This has to be the smallest venue I've been in. The room is about 1˝ times the size of my living room, and has no stage as such, just a bit of the floor in the corner. Despite appearances it was actually a really good gig, the vocal/drum PA (cursed by most bands) actually gave a really good sound.

The first band, Dying Sun, played an interesting selection of songs, with the style varying from hard rock  to the Hardcore Punkiness of their final song, Betrayal.  Basically, they play a whole spectrum of metal and have a good time doing it.  They have a very upbeat vibe and had a couple of brave souls up moshing at the front by halfway through the set.  By the end of the set it climaxed with one member of the audience bashing away at the drumkit with his hands.  Pretty cool for the first band of the night!

Lotus Lounge unfortunately made no impression at all on me, apart from making me move quickly upstairs. Their singer didn't seem to be able to sing: not a good first impression.

Orange Goblin, the 70's drugged out metallers, were certainly on form tonight. They had the crowd on their side right from the start, with people going nuts to the music. Their vocalist is one HUGE guy! A few songs in and they were doing an animated performance of Saruman's Wish which seemed to get participation from the openers about half way through (can't think why, 'dying sun, dying sun, dying sun, dying sun...'). When they supported The Blood Divine a year ago they blew them of the stage, and tonight was thankfully no different: a great performance from a fledgling band with much more to come. Keep it up lads!

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Wolfbitch