Date of gig: 06/04/12
Supporting Band: Fighting With Wire
The chances are that anyone born post-1992 won’t have come across Helmet, which is a shame as they have played an important role in shaping heavy music as we know it today. Even bands like Deftones have namedropped them as an influence but commercial success has so far eluded them. Hence tonight they are playing at the excellent but rather niche venue of The Fleece in Bristol. Despite this, they still manage to pull an impressive crowd who see the band play their best selling record “Meantime” in full – as part of its 20th anniversary celebrations – but not in a way most would have imagined…
Supporting them are Northern Irish trio Fighting With Wire. It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from this band, but the good news is they’re finally bringing out a new record in May entitled “Colonel Blood”. Better still, it will be given away for free. A few songs from their debut “Man vs Monster” feature in their set, such as “My Armoury” and “Everyone Needs A Nemesis”, as well as “I Am Ursus” from the tour-only released EP of the same title. From their new record, they air “Waiting On A Way To Believe” and the eponymous title track, proving they still have their heavy grunge sound intact. The band are well received by the crowd and frontman Cahir O’Doherty jokes about the media’s claim that rock is dead, and his personal threat to top himself if Radio One plays Ed Sheeran one more time. Overall, a terrific performance from one of the best bands to emerge from Northern Ireland.
It’s hard to believe that Helmet frontman Page Hamilton is now 51 and yet still manages to retain that raw, aggressive sound that puts so many of today’s hard rock acts to shame. These days the line-up mainly consists of Page and a few rotating musicians, and they work well together to provide a captivating show. Before the “Meantime” playback, they kick off with a few warm-up tracks, including “So Long” taken from their latest record “Seeing Eye Dog”. Then it’s time for the inevitable – but there’s a twist! Unlike most of these shows where the album is played in sequence, they choose to play it in reverse so “Role Model” is the first to be performed, with the audience already in full swing. Hamilton seems happy to engage with the crowd, explaining how their last planned show in Glasgow went horribly wrong due to a power cut, and how he respects Bristol for being home to the culture phenomenon Banksy.
They plough on with what they describe as Side One on vinyl in reverse, which includes one of their better known tunes “Unsung”. It isn’t long before they reach their biggest crowd pleaser “In The Meantime”, with its heavy and slick groove still sounding fresh and exciting today. But to their shock, they have made a fundamental error by playing out of sequence (or at least in reverse order), and omitted track 2, “Ironhead”. Hamilton is quick to apologise, using the age-old excuse that it’s nearly the end of the tour and things can sometimes go adrift…. The crowd are very accepting, and so the band plunge into the track before leaving and returning for the encore. They close the evening with “Wilma’s Rainbow” off their 1994 record “Betty”, providing yet another example of their brilliant musicianship.
Regardless of whether people think they are cashing in on a trip down memory lane, Helmet still feel as relevant today as ever. And with an enthusiastic audience, it felt a great occasion to be part of. There is very little to find fault with in tonight’s show, and for me it will definitely go down as one of the best of the year so far.
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Helmet: 9/10 |
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Fighting With Wire: 9/10 |
