Hundred Reasons, Plus Kids in Glass Houses & God Fires Man
Concorde2, Brighton
15th January 2007
Finally, after a three month delay due to vocalist Colin Doran’s health being in jeopardy, the Hundred Reasons tour has finally rolled into Brighton, and it has been worth every minute of the wait. Tonight’s show was absolutely outstanding, with three fantastic bands putting on razor sharp performances to keep the crowd of the Concorde2 thoroughly entertained for a good few hours.
First up on stage were New Yorkers God Fires Man. Having heard nothing of them before, and fully expecting Mobile to hit the stage, I was pleasantly surprised by what these guys had up their collective sleeve. Their sleazy, fast-paced post-hardcore sound radiates throughout the music hall tonight, and it’s safe to say there wasn’t a single person standing in the room unaffected by what was going on upstage in front of them. Frontman Art Shephard has quite the set of lungs on him, and doesn’t fail to hit a note throughout the duration of their set, despite his energetic dance routines. It’s only a shame that they have to head home after tonight’s show, as you could tell they were just getting comfortable in their support slot, and they’re a band that are well deserving of being heard by crowds the length and breadth of the UK.
When Kids In Glass Houses released their ‘E-pocalypse’ EP late last year, they were hailed as a breath of fresh air on the post-hardcore scene by almost every corner of the alternative media. In all honesty though, I was fully expecting their polished pop-rock sound to completely fall to pieces in a live setting, most notably because the vocals sounded just too bloody clean. Imagine my surprise then, when they roll through a collection of five or six songs, sounding every bit as good live as they do on record. Despite Iain’s questionable choice of trouserwear, these guys put on an absolutely stellar performance, and vocalist Aled is quite the character to watch. ‘Skeletons’ gave us a taste of what’s to come in 2007 from the band, while the vocal solo at the end of ‘Raise Hell’s breakdown was quite unbelievable. These guys are going to be shit-hot this year, so keep your eyes and ears peeled.
And so we come to Hundred Reasons. This is their first full tour without original guitarist Paul Townsend, and I must say I missed him tonight. Having seen them more than a handful of times over the last few years, I’m no stranger to quite how much fun he is to watch on stage. Despite his absence, the Surrey fivesome put on a predictably fantastic set. New addition Ben Doyle seems to have found his feet in the new line-up, and Colin is back on top form after a few months of absence due to illness. He was really giving it his all tonight, not stopping bounding around the stage for a minute, and STILL sounding fucking note-perfect.
The best thing about their set tonight, was that Hundred Reasons have realised the value of keeping the fans happy with the songs they put in their set. Having an even spread of new and old material kept the crowd hanging on every note, most notably when the front of the mosh-pit literally exploded during ‘I’ll Find You’. Finishing on ‘Silver’, with God Fires Man vocalist Arty Shephard stepping up to the mic was a cracking end to a frankly perfect night of live music and entertainment. If you haven’t got tickets for this tour yet and are considering going, make bloody sure you do, because tonight was the best gig this reviewer has been to in a very long time.
Andy R