STRANGEFORMS FEST, BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB,LEEDS, DAY 1, APRIL 6 2024

Leeds' premier math/post/etc-rock festival returns for its 9th outing, seeing the return of some old favourites and introducing some new ones.

VENUE: BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, LEEDS

Line-up:

LOVE RARELY: Local mathy alt-rock. Energetic and good fun.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/6fwWTeytdMI   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550628900569

DIN OF CELESTIAL BIRDS: Hefty post-rock lads from Leeds. I've been hassling Stewart at BAD OWL to get these onto the StrangeForms bill for ages, and here they are. How much influence I had on that I can't say, but I choose to believe that they're only here because of me. Because I'm important. Yes.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/AHBFVDggTmE   https://www.facebook.com/DinofCelestialBirds

PLEIADES: Another chance to see these post-everything chaps from Manchester after last week's appearance at the RED CRUST fest in Edinburgh, and another chance to get a decent sounding video. Success, I think, on both counts.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/9h09wtpfWLM  https://www.facebook.com/pleiadesuk

DEMCATS: 'Experimental' duo, difficult to define. Intricate, and a bit jazzy, perhaps. I have the impression that they hadn't played together for some time, but they seemed to manage. Mostly.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/qnMENuH40qo   https://www.facebook.com/demcatsband

OTHER HALF: Spiky and good fun, indie-punks from Norwich. I might have been tempted to dance to this, if I weren't an old fat bloke who dances like a collapsing sack of potatoes.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/MfQZkzlHvnY   https://www.facebook.com/otherhalfuk

FALL OF MESSIAH: French screamo/post-rock veterans, they were at StrangeForms in 2016, 2017 and 2019, and still look exactly the same as they ever did. Guitarist on the left, white t-shirt, was apparently playing with a broken neck, which seems inadvisable at best.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/AHJoI-0Cmp8  https://www.facebook.com/fallofmessiah

FALSE ADVERTISING: From SF regulars to SF newbies - boisterous indie-math popsters from Manchester are enormous fun. 

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/msx1otbnn9E   https://www.facebook.com/falseadv

CLT DRP: Uncompromising Brighton electro-punks. They sound a bit angry.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/mndAZApQiTo   https://www.facebook.com/CLTDRP

EMPLOYED TO SERVE: No nonsense heavy metal from exotic Woking. Not standard StrangeForms fare, to be sure, but very popular with the punters in the room, many of whom are, I think, here just to see them.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/YZMlfqcZFA0   https://www.facebook.com/employedtoserve

Day 1 over, and it's time to bugger off. Been a mixed bag of a day, but there's been nothing I hated, which is always nice. It's started to rain, so it's a 15 minute sprint-walk down the hill to the overheated hotel to try and get some rest for tomorrow. 

RED CRUST FEST, PART 3, VARIOUS VENUES, EDINBURGH MARCH 30 2024

Saturday at the RED CRUST FEST in Edinburgh. The kids had their day yesterday, and now it's time for the old guys to do their thing. Most of the action takes place in LA BELLE, but there are still the after-show gigs. If things go according to plan, we might see some stuff at BANNERMAN'S and, maybe, LEGENDS later. Or we might not.

VENUE:  LA BELLE ANGELE:

LINE-UP:

SOLAR SONS: We're told that TALES OF TIME have had to pull out, so things start a bit later than planned with Dundee's trad metal heroes getting a slightly longer slot for their second set of the weekend. This is MAN metal. Not like the pumped and oily man-metal of MANOWAR, but rough and hairy MAN metal. Not man-metal with a shiny polished sword, but MAN metal with a chipped and chunky axe. MAN metal.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/CV5oxdNscGs   https://www.facebook.com/solarsonsofficial

CODESPEAKER: I maintain that CODESPEAKER are amongst the finest of British post metal bands, and will have no argument. Danged hard to photograph though. Anyway, they premier a NEW SONG today, which is nice, and the video of it is right there below the pics.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/5brPzAEFT3I   https://www.facebook.com/codespeakertheband

FAMYNE: Quality doom stoner metal from Canterbury. The one band on today's menu that I knew absolutely nothing about. Decent, though.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/sLtnooL-1f8  https://www.facebook.com/famyneuk

1968: RED CRUST favourites, no-nonsense retro rockers back with a new singer, formerly of OAK. The London OAK, not any one of the many other OAKs. 

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/za2JNdRvB18   https://www.facebook.com/1968Band

DOG TIRED: I miss BRAINBATH, because I had to go get my car from where it was parked, and come back in time to catch a bit of PANTER....er, DOG TIRED, all the way from the leafy suburb of Penicuik. DOG TIRED do exactly what DOG TIRED do, and do it very well indeed.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/PoiLJBnGPc8   https://www.facebook.com/dogtiredmetal

PARTY CANNON: Notorious Fife party-slammers playing Edinburgh for the first time in ages, Traditional inflatable killer whale makes it's usual appearance, joined this time by a shadowy skeleton lurking in the shadows.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/lI_vQUAnzRs   https://www.facebook.com/PartyCannonUK

DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL: Post-metalcore veterans making a rare Edinburgh appearance, headlining the Saturday night main stage. Excellent stuff.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/TtBZD1pbN5k  https://www.facebook.com/devilsoldhissoul

That's it for the main stage, and I'm feeling the strain. I'm going to have to miss the ISAK set at LEGENDS, because I'm very old and tired, but there's still just enough gas in the tank for...

VENUE: LEGENDS:

Line-up:

PLEIADES: Nice lads from Manchester, doing a blend of everything post - post-rock, post-hardcore, post-metal, post-malone...wait, no. Not that last one. One of the guitarists is very tall. And it's pronounced PLAY-a-dees.

There's no video for this one because, once again, the sound was terrible. 

https://www.facebook.com/pleiadesuk

That's Saturday done. I'm knackered and I need to go to bed. Back tomorrow.