The Gryphon, Bristol
Its kinda spooky, that you wait for a great band to come along then you get four at once…
We had an inkling that Poison Crow would take the roof off, hence why we decided a while back that covering their first headline show in Bristol was not a maybe, but a MUST.
What we didn’t count on is that the three support acts would all bring their “A game” to such an extent that we’d have no option, but to award only our third ever PLATINUM GIG AWARD!
Anyone who regularly goes to gigs knows the drill. You arrive semi late, grab yourself a drink and chat with friends whilst using the first band as background music.
You wander into the stage area in time to catch the second half of the second bands set, which you watch with the occasional nod of the head whilst continuing your conversation.
By the time the main support comes to the stage you’re semi warmed up and loose enough to start enjoying the evening. So that you are ready to go all guns blazing for the headliner, after all they are the reason you bought the ticket.
So, Swine opened up Thursday nights gig with such a blistering performance that they might as well have walked around the Gryphon and slapped everyone hard across the face….
As a punk and metal gig veteran I have not often seen such a kick ass, in your face opening act. Raw power, aggression and attitude that dragged people up the stairs to see who the hell was playing.
The Bristol based twosome made enough noise for a four or five piece. The pace relentless , the talent obvious. The room, packed and moshing.
Next up were a couple of familiar faces. I’d first come across Moon Reaper Vocalist / Guitarist Morgan Cradick and Bassist Jennine Horwood a few months ago at The Louisiana as they backed up Bristolian anthemic goth rocker Melodi.
This time however it was Morgans time to shine on vocals as he set about blowing away any preconceived notions of being pigeon holed into one genre.
Moon Reaper brought the doom metal by the bucket full. Weaving a beautifully blackened ambience throughout the venue.
The screams? Brutal. The riffs? Decimating… with a sound veering from Funeral Tears to Pantera.
Moon Reaper is the start of a very exciting project and if you like your souls black and your music blacker, we recommend you catch them around the city.
The evenings main support came from Smile More.
Going in to the show all I knew of this band was they have a cool name and a great logo.
Leaving the show I am a convert, fan, groupie call it what you will. Just know I would happily hand over wads of cash to watch these guys do their thing.
Arriving to a thinned out crowd like a set of characters from a Dickensian version of Phantom of The Opera I think a few of us watching were not entirely sure what to expect.
By the end of the first song my ears were bleeding from the cacophony of beautiful sounds coming from the stage.
The room refilled in an instant and the scene was set for some of the most brutal pits of the evening as the band made the walls not only shake, but warp with their hyper hypnotic, distorted version of alt metal.
The band only formed last year and their debut show was less than five months ago, but there is no one in the room that would have believed this if you told them.
A stage presence that should take years to hone and a set that was like watching the cast of a west end musical go full metal.
We WILL be featuring Smile More in their own right in the very near future.
And so with a flap of black wings we move on to our Headliners for the night.
A palpable sense of excitement buzzed around the sold out venue as Sirin, Joe, Charlie and Jack took their positions at the front of the stage area.
The beat hit, the vocal dropped, the room exploded….
It was as if the band knew they’d have the crowd in the palm of their hand as they opened with Cyanide and I tried to shoot in the midst of bodies flying everywhere.
Again for a relatively young band to have such poise, control and presence in their delivery at such an early stage shows just why they were ready to headline.
Retreating to a high vantage point (standing on top the sound booth) you are fully able to appreciate the performance and crowd reaction.
Poison Crow have a swagger that already sets them apart from their peers. And this is now the second crowd I have seen them blow away in the space of two months.
A mix of alt metal from their current EP delivered tracks such as Masses and Paradise. Blending with a heavier edged glimpse at the future and new material such as Virus and Bulletproof.
And the best (only) cover version of spooky scary skeletons that I have ever heard.
All delivered with a confidence and knowing smiles of a job well done.
Headline Halloween show at The Gryphon? Nailed it guys.
PLATINUM
