So here we are at Episode 3 of an eventful weekend of gigs. In this instalment, Anakin doesn’t turn to the dark side, and Yoda doesn’t make himself look like a wimp and exile himself. If you want that Episode III, then shame on you! You shouldn’t be here and don’t get me started on Star Wars.
This is Episode 3 – Job For A Cowboy. Saturday night’s finale to a 3 night gig stint in Manchester and I don’t think the world has ever put 4 more heavy bands on the same line up at any time ever!!
It was Job For A Cowboy, Whitechapel, Annotations Of An Autopsy and Trigger The Bloodshed. That’s heavy. In other good news, the £1.50 per pint until 8:30 offer had filtered through to the Academy 2, so another cheap night of moshing and drinking was on the cards!
Job For A Cowboy Tour Poster
In yet more good news, due to there being no pissing about leaving work, we arrived on time!! In fact, we got there early, so we nipped to ‘The Oxford’ for a cheeky pre-gig pint. And because Ben was busting for a slash! Makes a change, it’s usually me!! The Oxford is a pretty cool pub where I’ve spent many an hour waiting for a gig. Food’s not bad either.
So just after 7:30 we took a stomp down to the Academy 2, bumping into a bunch of South Wales lads who were on an epic road trip up to Manchester just for tonight’s gig. They seemed a decent bunch and we had a bit of banter with them. Opened that convo up by calling Whitechapel ‘Capel Gywn’ (Which is Welsh for ‘white chapel’) and then Ben got himself corrected on his translation of Lamb of God. Turns out we’ve been calling them ‘Sheep of God’ for quite a while. We’re stubborn though, we’ll stick with ours!
So we got in the venue and headed straight for the bar for a cheeky cheap beer. The rumbling sound from the ceiling was a sure sign that ‘Trigger The Bloodshed’ were just starting, so we headed up.
Seen these guys a few times now (including twice in under 24 hours at the first Hammerfest) and they’re just fast, heavy and brutal! They powered into a set of monster tunes (the names of which I have no clue) and certainly started eth night with a bang. The sound is much better tonight. Smaller venues are generally much better in my opinion!
So we headed back upstairs for the noisy beast that was ‘Annotations Of An Autopsy’ See these guys a few times too and even been on the same bill as them once, but I’ve only recently been paying attention to the music. I’ve only got the album ‘Before The Throne Of Infection’, but it’s spent a few weeks on constant repeat alongside ‘Here Comes The Kraken’ (another heavy as fook, beast of a band you should check out), so I was really looking forward to seeing them. They didn’t disappoint. It was a barrage of in-your-face, pounding metal. Heavy, loud and top quality pit music. Thoroughly enjoyed ’em this time round.
And back to the bar for more cheap beer and a look at the merch stall. Some cool bits there including a class ‘Annotations’ tee in the style of a Stella Artois logo that I should’ve got! Money is always an issue (Not to self: must win lottery asap!)
Then we were back in for ‘Capelgwyn’. If you weren’t reading this earlier, that’s ‘Whitelchapel’ in Welsh. Most of the guys I was with love Whitechapel. They’re heavy, with loads of technical guitars and sludgy riffs that you can get your teeth into! They are pretty good, to be fair. See ‘em once or twice before and they’re great live. They usually do this whole ‘Red Arrows’ formation headbanging thing, with the singer taking point and two guitarists either side, making a ‘V’ shape. They do it in the video for ‘This Is Exile’ and it’s the coolest un-metal move in metal! Their latest CD ‘A New Era Of Corruption’ is really good too. (There’s a track on there with Chino from Deftones, but you wouldn’t say it was him given the sort of thing Deftones are doing these days. Sounds like the shouty Chino from early Deftones stuff.) But, hats off, Whitechapel were on top form tonight. A blistering set of quality riffage. Mint.
Job For A Cowboy. What can I say? They were faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakin’ brutal. I stayed at the back and enjoyed an immensely heavy set (With my full price pint – grrrrr). These guys were spot on and aided, again, by a much better sound. This was defo the best I’ve seen ‘em play. Last time was supporting ‘Lamb of God’ and they had a tough crowd and a shite sound (it was in the Academy… Shocker!), but tonight was a million times better.
They launched through tracks from all albums. I was a bit disappointed they never played my fave ‘Altered Through Catechization’, but they were still ace. I did charge down the front, dragging Dave along for the ride when they announced last song, and another fave of mine, ‘Entombment of a Machine’. We got right to the front with pretty much no resistance whatsoever and had a good slam about and scream-along for a top set ender.
I caught a drumstick thrown from the stage, which is always cool. I gave it to Ben though, ’cause he bums Job For A Cowboy, and was pestering the life outta their drummer for a stick anyway! He owes me now, so any decent guitar pics found, boyo, and you know where to send ‘em 😉
I only had one thing with me to get signed tonight (not my usual fifty), but we were too hungry and cold to bother waiting. We hit Abduls for the usual, which you should know by now is the mighty Chip Naan (cue heavenly lights and angels singing). Yes, I wasn’t full of Pizza tonight so I could cram one in. Happy days!! And we headed home for a well deserved break!
Just a week off though, and it was time for DevilDriver and 36 Crazyfists. Bring it on!!!!
Stories & Views From Inside The Pit 