ITs’ another year and another chance to see Combichrist. This was the twelfth time I have seen this band since 2009 and, if I honest, I am starting to get a little bored. The Old School set at M’era Luna last year was amazing. I didn’t know what to expect last night but there hasn’t been any new material from the band for a while. First we have to cover the early bands.
Smith and I got to the venue while Esotrik were playing their set. It wasn’t anything special. In my notes I wrote – OK.
The second band of the evening were Crimson Veil. A band comprising 3 women and a man playing guitars. The drummer was excellent. I liked the idea of the electric viola and harp. The singing was excellent. I struggled a little bit with the beat and the length of the songs. The songs were long. The beat felt disjointed. I suspect this is what would be considered “experimental” sounds. I also suspect it was musically clever, but my ears aren’t good enough to spot that.
Extize were great. It was the singers birthday and also the release date of their new album. It was their first time playing in the UK. I really enjoyed their set last year at M’era Luna and I also really enjoyed the set they played here. It was good fun, the band looked like they really enjoyed themselves. I enjoyed myself. In my notes I described this as heavy dance with humour. I will buy their new album.
The headliners were Combichrist. It was a solid set from the band. I didn’t dance or mosh too much as I was worried my back would die again – it died at a gig I played before christmas. So, I stood near the back and observed – this was my standard position years ago before I got pit-hungry. Apart from two newer songs in the middle of the set it was all really really good. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole show. I would still argue they don’t need guitars on most of the songs, but they have moved on from electro and it does kinda work.
Elliot Berlin is now on his way to being the most seen artist in my concert going career. He used to be with Aesthetic Perfection and is now with Combichrist. Joe Letz didn’t make it to this many shows I’d seen. He left Combichrist a few years ago. It’s interesting that it has taken me this many gigs with Combichrist to start getting a little bored. There are many bands from my teenage years who I’ve seen a few times but really don’t think I’d be that fussed about seeing them again. In music my attention wanes.