Excellent performances, shame about the audience.

Firstly the medical bulletin. My eyes are still a little bloodshot and my ears have stopped ringing but my hearing is still a bit off. Yep, I went to a gig last night. I’m afraid I missed Plastic Toys, but the second support, Die so Fluid, were superb. Good modern metal with a goth leaning and solid playing had the small crowd nodding along happily. The performance was tight and well ordered (with the odd sly reference to the track list) and the set seemed too short, I could have enjoyed them for twice as long before wondering where the main act had got to. These guys work well as a band and give off a real sense of enjoying themselves, in spite of the heavy snarling metal they play. A band to get excited about, with Grog leading the crowd throughout it, supplying vocals/bass and even beauty for the band, Al Fletcher on Drums and Mr Drew on Guitar, perhaps not as pretty but just as effective.

Apparently My Ruin were in Leicester for the first time, and I had expected a sold out Charlotte. Sadly it was only half full and that a mix of serious fans and more casual first time attendees, leading to a largely polite audience who stood and nodded along. Tarrie and co did not let this slow them down and belted out a fantastic set of sleazy snarling metal, and no one growls into a mike like Miss B. Although the stage and crowd were both small, Tarrie managed great crowd interaction, trusting the fans at the front to hold her up as she lay back into them. The band performed flawlessly and finished with instrumental metal from guitarist Mick Murphy’s side project Neanderthal. A great, and loud, start to the new year.