dea Lesson No.1

Tuesday, January 17

THE LOW END FEAR ‘EE



OK, so basically the deal with this gig is that it’s an identical lineup to one that took place in October, which was written about here, which is comfortably still on the front page of this blog. If you want to know why it’s being done again, I guess try and find the thread for the original gig on Southwalesmassive for (some would say) an overly comprehensive explanation.

Long story short, Conan drove down from Liverpool just to play the show, played for about ten minutes and were physically coerced into stopping by the relief* landlord of the venue, who had been drinking solidly for something like 15 hours, due to Wales’ world cup game that day. Then they drove back to Liverpool again. What a rip! Well they didn’t want to leave things hanging like this, neither did the folks who organised the show, and the fine Swalian metal/punk/whatever dudes who attended didn’t really get to see the headline band. So we booked CONAN, ZONDERHOOF and PUS into Buffalo for Sun 22 Jan – that’s THIS SUNDAY – and will be letting you in for only TWO QUID.

In exchange you will get to see three kickass bands do their thing, and no staff members will be drunk to the point of abject incapability. Regarding the bands themselves, most of what I wrote a few months back still applies, I think: Conan have finished recording their new album, which might be their debut depending if you think four-song, 30-minute slabs of stone called ‘Horseback Battle Hammer’ are albums or not, and will doubtless be playing a wedge of it. Pus have continued to get glowing reviews for their debut EP, likewise Zonderhoof for their ‘Hakken!’ full-length.

Basically it would be really neat if you could go to this and finish off a job that was left incomplete by the vagaries of the pub/gig interface. Don’t blame pubs, though. They’re not the guilty party here.

*this means that he isn’t the normal landlord, and this sort of thing doesn’t normally happen. I went to see Diet Pills and others in there about six weeks afterwards, it was just as loud, and everyone was good people.

Labels: , , , , ,

posted by Noel Gardner at 9:15 pm 0 comments

Thursday, October 6

DOT.CROM START UP



Just over a year ago Lesson No.1 helped some folks out with a Cardiff show for a band called CONAN, who come from Liverpool and play bone-meltingly powerful sludged-out doom metal. I don’t know if everywhere they play gets this treatment, but they helped increase their affability by posting on local messageboard Southwalesmassive in the style of some kind of comedy Norse warrior. Because they’re called Conan, I suppose. Anyhoo, it all helped get folks’ dander up for the show, which was in Buffalo and owned hard.

Since then, Conan have incrementally increased their standing in the doom community by a combo of rare-but-valuable shows, and good auld word of mouth. They’ve also added to the one release they had in 2010 – a lumbering four-song half-hour monster called ‘Horseback Battle Hammer’ which I reviewed here – in the form of a split album with oppressively bleak Irishmen Slomatics. It’s out on Head Of Crom (12”) and Burning World (CD) and I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to buy both at this show happening on Saturday.

Support this time round comes from ZONDERHOOF, a Cardiff band who have been (at) large in the city since the middle of last decade. If you’d gone to WH Smugs and bought last month’s issue of Terrorizer magazine, which usefully has been taken off the shelves literally today as I type, you would have got a FREE copy of ‘Hakken!’, their debut album. Instead, you can buy it in a proper case at the show or from Undergroove, the label boss of whom is a Terrorizer staff member. HE’S TRYING TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING GOOD FOR FREE, DUMBASSES. Oh yeah, what does their music sound like? Fine and bottom-heavy rumbling instrumental metal averaging about seven and a half minutes per song, with a Melvins jones but much for fans of Keelhaul, Capricorns, Neurosis, Loincloth und so weiter. They don’t play live enough, so come out and pay respect.

First on (probably a wee bit after 8pm) are PUS, who were also one of the supports last time out. They’ve got t’ings done since then, too – notably their debut EP, which came out on Universal Tongue/Feretro a couple of months back, and has been awarded glowing reviews by the doom community (them again). Some people seem to think that blazing up 24/7 is crucial to its appreciation, but I don’t think it’s necessary to shut out cowards like me in that way. “Relentlessly tranced out black dirge, doomy and psychedelic, mesmerizing and hypnotic,” is another line from a review, though, and I’m pretty well on board with that.

So yeah. This is once again only a fiver to get in, the drinks are cheaper here and it’s a Saturday. If you’ve already given yourself over to the Michael Forever concert in the Millennium Stadium, perhaps as a result of working in one of the companies that got free tickets for every employee as they literally can’t give them away, then... sux2BU.

Labels: , , , , ,

posted by Noel Gardner at 7:28 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, August 3

AREA MEN



You don’t have to be a man to go to this of course, that would be completely insane and inviting a world of trouble, but it is undeniable that over the course of this six-hour extravaganza, you will be seeing nothing but penises onstage. Or you would if all the bands played in the nude. MOVING SWIFTLY ON, this show focuses on the local (to South Wales, in origin at the very least) and the heavy. Lesson No.1’s name is on the poster but thanks be to Chi of Spider Kitten for the day’s name, the 90s-tastic Loserpalooza; Rhys from Pus for the psych-tabulous poster; and the bands in general for spending the last three months hyping it. Now all it needs is for you to attend.

Here, I shall attempt to explain why you should, one band/sentence at a time. You might have seen some or all of these before, but some don’t get to play as often as they should – Pus haven’t ‘done’ Cardiff this year, for example – and you might have missed others because they opened the bill or something. Today you should have no excuse (disregard if you have an actual excuse), as it’s a Saturday and is supposedly gonna be nice weather. It’s £6 on the door, which is a pound per band, or get a £5 ticket from the link on the right. This is how it will happen.

THORUN: Cardiff quartet play music which has no vocals but speaks through the medium of epic stoner rock, doom and classic metal (5pm).
PUS: incredibly zonged-out and oppressive lo-fi sludge with treats for fans of Eyehategod, Electric Wizard or Fleshpress, and a spanking new debut EP on the Universal Tongue label (5.45pm).
SMILER: frantic hardcore with overtones of crust, powerviolence, thrashcore and 90s UK fodder like Hard To Swallow, as showcased on their Seven Records mini-album ‘Con-Demned’ (6.30pm).
JIMMY ROWE: deeply rare live appearance by a dude who plays gravelly blues-rock that swings and twangs inna Creedence/Allman Bros/Peter Green manner (7.15pm).
SPIDER KITTEN: a decade deep as a band, their current lineup – featuring three guitarists and Chris ex of Taint on drums – is their most powerful yet, and their grungey invocations of psychedelic doominess will alter your head (8pm).
ATOMÇK: intense grindcore trio whose vocals/guitar/drums/no bass setup takes in ample proggish and noisy angles – a split with Spider Kitten exists, likewise one with Chicago’s Paucities and an EP on the Grindcore Karaoke label (9pm).

So there you go. If you don’t know, now you know, blog-reader. This is gonna be really good and it finishes early enough (10pm tops) for you to go and carry on partying.

Labels: , , , , , , ,

posted by Noel Gardner at 6:50 pm 0 comments