Submotion Orchestra / Catching Flies [Live Review – Concorde 2, Brighton, 12/3/2016]

Live music can be a harsh, unforgiving world. Every time a band steps onstage, anything could happen – and they have to deal with it in the moment, right there in front of an audience. On paper, this was already a risky show for Submotion Orchestra, as they prepared to present old and new tunes alike in a totally new way.

Colour Theory collaborators Catching Flies (87%) did a great job of warming up punters coming in from the cold. Concorde 2 is situated right on Brighton’s seafront – and walking from chilled sea air into waves of deep bass and soothing jazztronica is a great way to start an evening off. Slowly the gently grooving crowd grew, and I’m sure Catching Flies made a few new fans before Submotion Orchestra (97%)…

…completely, completely nailed it.

With SubMo vocalist Ruby Wood taking time off from touring to focus on Read more…

Posted on 13 March 2016

Max Raptor / Allusondrugs / Press To MECO [Live Review – The Borderline, London, 9/3/2016]

There are few pleasures in life like watching a trio of tour-tightened bands tear a legendary venue apart.

Press To MECO (95%), fresh off the back of dropping a straight up stunning debut album named Good Intent, are on the up – and good on them. They absolutely deserve it. Breaking into Family Ties in front of an already-rammed Borderline after a quick bunch of fist-bumps, Press To MECO wasted zero time before nailing chunky riffs and beautiful harmonies.

No warmup song needed. That is the mark of a band who Read more…

Posted on 10 March 2016

Toska [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 27/2/2016]

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Anyone who’s ever played a video game will be familiar with the stresses and strains involved in beating the Boss Level. The anxious anticipation that greets the arrival of some hideous, monolithic fucker with fire breath and laser eyes, capable of annihilating you in an instant; the adrenaline surging around your body as you dodge and attack, seeking out a weak spot; the glorious feeling of relief and victory as it finally falls to the ground and you level up.

Toska’s EP launch, celebrating the maiden voyage of Ode To The Author, was their first serious Boss-Level show – and watching them win was Read more…

Posted on 28 February 2016

TesseracT / The Contortionist / Nordic Giants [Live Review – The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth, 11/2/2016]

When you walk into a venue using The Algorithm’s OCTOPUS4 as a pre-show auditory appetizer, you know it’s going to be an intense night.

Nordic Giants (93%) became new TMMP favourites by the end of a stunningly (and literally) cinematic set. Watching a multi-tasking duo soundtrack a series of masterfully crafted videos in real time is not Read more…

Posted on 12 February 2016

Dorje / Derange [Live Review – Boston Music Room, London, 9/12/2015]

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With an insanely massive TMMP-related project on the go behind the scenes, it’s been a while since I ventured beyond the desk and into the world of high-impact soundwaves. This show was more than worth the trip.

Derange (85%) are very, very awesome. Think Tesseract with a female vocalist in possession of one hell of a scream, and you’re in the right ballpark. Deep-reaching grooves, big riffs, signs of a stellar stage presence in the making, and new single The Thinker dominating the room for its entire duration added up to an awesome showing.

By the time Derange’s cover of Tool’s Forty-Six & Two closed their set, I’ve no doubt many new fans were made. On the constructively critical side, though, dropping the cover and prioritising a set of exclusively original material would be a good future move. Derange’s original material is more than strong enough to Read more…

Posted on 10 December 2015

Signals / Me And The Moon / China Bears [Live Review – The Star, Guildford, 23/10/2015]

Here’s a list of things that could stop me from seeing Signals when they’re in town:

1) Death.

That’s about it.

Since on a Friday night most punters tend to show up for the headliners and ignore the supports, said supports tend to be…shall we say…not very good. However, China Bears (75%) managed to buck that trend with a very nice, low-key, poppy indie-folk acoustic set that went over well despite falling victim to some standard-for-acoustic-sets-everywhere crowd chatter.

Me And The Moon (70%), meanwhile, were at an awkward point for any band, performing for the first time with an entirely new rhythm section who still need time to settle in. Here, they were a band of two halves – a frontwoman and guitarist working hard and successfully on their onstage confidence, meeting the gaze of every last person in the room, and a drummer and bassist who with time and experience will no doubt be doing the same sooner rather than later. Songwriting-wise, these guys were great – a work in progress with plenty of potential.

Signals (96%) have always been an immense band, in possession of a style brimming with cool subtleties. Complex but accessible, technical but still soulful, Signals’ self-label, “math-pop”, fits  Read more…

Posted on 24 October 2015

Hatton Manor / Tiago Saga / Jack Williams [Live Review – The Gods, Brighton, 17/10/2015]

Sometimes small gigs are the best gigs. With so many massive chain venues and mammoth festival fields out there, it’s easy to forget the joys of being packed sardine-like into a none-more-intimate room to enjoy an evening of top-class music.

Watching Jack Williams (83%) and Tiago Saga (85%), I was reminded of a recent interview with Jon Gomm, discussing the importance of authentic sincerity in the singer-songwriter world. These guys have authentic sincerity oozing from every pore, along with two distinct and enjoyable styles. Jack Williams is capable of projecting deep passions through borrowed equipment, while Tiago Saga’s versatile skills drift seamlessly through everything from Read more…

Posted on 19 October 2015

Between The Buried And Me / Haken [Live Review – The Electric Ballroom, Camden, 17/9/2015]

Between The Buried And Me have spent the past decade-and-a-half ascending to the highest peaks of progressive metal. Fusing influences as diverse as Pantera and Queen (amongst a vast range of others), BTBAM / Bee-Tee-Bam are now in possession of an extensive back catalogue packed full of dense and intense tracks guaranteed to induce rapture in metalheads and migraines in grandmothers. Latest long-player Coma Ecliptic saw BTBAM expand their already massive sound, wearing their influences on their sleeves while still retaining the elements that make them them.

Last night, opening act Haken (90%) kicked things off in style with solid and sick idea after solid and sick idea. Hench grooves, ethereal low-key moments, mind-bending and freakishly inventive solos, a cheeky keytar excursion Read more…

Posted on 18 September 2015

Monuments / No Consequence / Toska [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 12/8/2015]

Progressive Promotions have great taste in bands. The lineup for this show was absolutely immense, kicking off with TMMP favourites Toska (92%). Regular readers will have already read many evangelical words about these guys – but they fucking deserve it. This time out, performance was prioritised over precision, resulting in one of the most intense, borderline apocalyptic Toska sets yet. A couple of mistakes were made, but who the fuck cares when the music is that epic?

Following Toska’s opening barrages has proven tough for some, but local legends No Consequence (88%) Read more…

Posted on 13 August 2015

Heights / Agent / Sumer / Toska [Live Review – The Barfly, Camden, 31/7/2015]

South West Trains can drill a hole in a mirror, and fuck themselves.

Fortunately, TMMP overcame assorted transportation disasters to see Toska (95%) open a lineup bookended by two bands who’ve been slowly making their way north of Brighton together over the past few months. This set was easily – easily – Toska’s best live showing to date, mainly thanks to an absolutely immense sound job. Studio-grade tones, songs equal parts Armageddon and ecstatic release, a level of tightness that borders on pure telepathy…these guys are the perfect instrumental prog-metal band at this point. Judging from the amount of head-bobbing going on, every single earlycomer knew it, too. I’d be willing to bet that more than a few of them are in neck braces today.

Following Toska is a real challenge – and Sumer (83%) Read more…

Posted on 02 August 2015