So last night I went to the above gig. I wasn’t expecting much out of Chrome Hoof and didn’t get much out of them either. Very over the top with sparkly hooded costumes, made them look like a bunch of homosexual grim reapers. Their music wasn’t as bad but I couldn’t get past the costumes.

The Redneck Manifesto however, are sublime. Since ‘I Am Brazil’ was released in 2004, I’ve had my doubts as to whether the rednecks could better it. ‘Seven Stabs’ and ‘RMNMN’ were good but not as good as ‘I Am Brazil’. Within last nights performance there was quite a big hint that they’ve gone one better.

Their set was pretty much 50/50, new/old. The old stuff was, as always, brilliantly performed. The new stuff was mind blowing at times. There’s so many new ideas, so many experiments and such excellent musicianship in this new music. It still sound like the rednecks but it’s better. It’s hard to judge on the basis of 5/6 songs but I was really impressed.

The mix of new and old was well received. The rednecks never fail to put on an enjoyable and fascinating show.

Battles on the other hand take experimentation to a new level. These guys are at the top of their game in the so called ‘math rock‘ genre. For most of the performance my jaw was on the floor in awe of how talented and tight these guys are.

Their sound is fascinating. Most of the songs start with a very basic loop and it’s processed to produce a rhythm that just builds and builds in brilliance. The drummer is extraordinary. Never misses a beat no matter how bizarre the loop he’s trying to play with is, he holds it all together. The addition then of the guitars and keyboards is actually magical. There’s two guitarists, both also play keyboards, both play guitar and keyboards at the same time. It’s incredible to watch (see video below). There’s so many times, while watching these guys, that you think you’re listening to a backing track, but you’re not, eventually you find who’s playing what you’re hearing. At times there was 6 instruments being played by 4 people plus various loops that had started the song.

The addition of the pitch shifted vocals really got the crowd going. This was a little discerning though. About halfway through the show they played ‘Atlas’, their most well known song. At the point this kicked in it suddenly seemed that everyone was there to just hear that song.

Nevertheless, it was a mind boggling gig, from Chrome Hoof through the Redneck Manifesto to Battles this wasn’t one for anybody without a passion for music but, it was so good.

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