Live Review
Indica Ritual – Rockscape, Liverpool
In Liverpool on October 4th, whilst Bold St. had its regular 2008 festivities of promotional balloons and free samples of shampoo, a small and seemingly ‘secret’ gig exploded, just across the road from the Bombed-out-church. The Altier Bow-wow Rockscape arrived in Liverpool thanks to this year’s Biennial. Half hidden behind a billboard of colourful posters, a newly constructed stage and seating area has appeared and is pretty incredible to be honest.
Imagine being in an ancient Greek amphitheatre that is made of the same wood as a garden gazebo, with a back drop of a church and people confused by the sound of music, and you’ll kinda get the idea. It’s a really good space that enticed people of all ages to come in and sample the free music.
There were three acts on today; The Laze, Metro Manila Aide, and Indica Ritual. These were inter spliced with the DJ Ali Baba and Technicolor Deadbeat.
The Laze opened with an incredible injection of spacey, almost circus-like folk rock that definitely reminded me of Queens of the Stone Age, on some level at least. They had a very unique sound however, which they harnessed with great passion. The singer/bassist was brilliant; never stopping for a second, and displaying the kind of energy you would normally only find in a five year old after a can of coke. Constantly in the zone and feeling every fluid beat and riff. Definitely go and see these guys if you can!
Metro Manila Aide was crossed half old-school classic rock and half nu school heavy metal; lyrically poetic, and very very mad. Again the singer was on fire! Harnessing a presence which was fascinating, highlighted by the fact he kept running into the crowd to blast out train speed metal riffs whilst writhing like a mad man. This was definitely good to see!
The final band Indica Ritual was a great, positive, and brightly coloured way to end the gig. They used guitars, drums, and keys to glorious effect; constantly bouncing through songs in an almost franticly happy way. The vocals were spot on too, drifting in and out of the bouncy electronic music in an amusing harmony. They had true moments of beauty to their style. The whole band were focused and involved, and seemed to really enjoy showing us what they had created.
These free gigs will be on every weekend for the next couple of months so get yourself there. It’s a grand way to spend a Saturday afternoon!