Blood Red Shoes @ Trinity (with Slaves and DZ Deathrays)

Live

April 25, 2014

When: April 23, 2014

It might just seem this way after seeing 3 in one night, but it’s beginning to feel like 2 piece bands are really leading the charge when it comes to noisy, energetic guitar music today. Besides the trinity of 2 pieces that played, erm, Trinity in Bristol on Wednesday night, there is an abundance of top notch duos in the UK at the moment that lack nothing musically for having fewer members than your average noise-monger band (Nai Harvest, God Damn, and Hysterical Injury immediately spring to mind). The rise of the two piece has been a long time coming. For instance our headliners Blood Red Shoes have been standing on their own four feet for a decade now, and the hand-picked opening act for their current tour, DZ Deathrays, aren’t the newest kids on the block either. Together with Slaves, who are comparatively pretty new, this bill feels like the cream of the crop in the two-people-make-big-noise business.

Australia’s DZ Deathrays are first to grace us with their presence on the stage, in place of the altar of this converted church. They might be the opening act, but their arrival sees the congregation flocking to the front, as DZ Deathrays’ reputation precedes them. In lieu of a bass player, their room shaking guttural sound is achieved through frontman Shane Parsons running his guitar through both a bass stack as well as a guitar amp. Along with his arsenal of pedals, it’s immensely effective, from the brooding riffs in ‘The Mess Up’ to newer, more explosive tracks like ‘Gina Works at Hearts’. The onstage energy from Parsons and drummer Simon Ridley is contagious, seeing the rapidly growing audience thrashing about along to the duo, despite their early stage time of 7.30pm, which would see lesser bands playing to a static audience. DZ Deathrays broke tonight’s 2 piece rule for the closing few tracks, bringing an extra guitarist out, but hey, we’ll let them off.

Slaves are a tough act to follow. Born show-stealers that practically dare their audience not to completely lose their collective shit, they storm into their set with a cacophony of caustic guitar from Laurie Vincent. We get a moment to notice that frontman/drummer Isaac Holman’s tom, snare and cymbals kit setup looks a bit odd, and then from the instant he starts battering them it’s completely relentless. It’s not just their ferocious sound that makes Slaves such a force to be reckoned with, but their constant interaction with the crowd as well, taking the piss and sharing sweaty hugs with their adoring, flailing, moshing fans. Their song introductions (which I won’t ruin by repeating here, just go see them) are a pretty major part of their magic as well, especially for ‘Where’s Your Car, Debbie’. They take all the best bits of Oi! and early hardcore punk (‘Girl Fight’ lasts about 15 seconds) and somehow bend the rules even further, grabbing their crowd by the throat and barely loosening their grip through their entire set.

Before Blood Red Shoes take their place at the pulpit, the mosh pit instigators make way for the slightly calmer majority of the crowd, more interested in drunken singalongs than the potential for GBH (I get the impression that Slaves might have left everyone all tuckered out). Lit up from the back by giant bulbs suspended by mic stands, Blood Red Shoes make a slightly more atmospheric, but no less exciting entrance. They do feel slightly tame in comparison to what we’ve been through so far this evening, but they still have their congregation’s full attention. Newer songs in the set such as ‘Cigarettes in the Dark’ and ‘The Perfect Mess’ are greeted with more enthusiasm than most bands’ unfamiliar material would be, which shows the dedication of their fanbase pretty clearly.

It is, however, when they break into tracks like ‘Heartsink’ and ‘You Bring Me Down’ that the entire crowd feels completely alive. All singing, all dancing, fuelled by scathing guitars from Laura-Mary Carter, beats that could revive a corpse and make it dance from Steven Ansell and the catchiest vocals we’ve heard all night coming from both. After leaving the stage they return for an encore, at which point they hammer down the accelerator with the triple whammy of ‘Light It Up’, ‘Red River’ and ‘Je Me Perds’. Blood Red Shoes are now on their fourth album. They seem at the height of their powers right now, and also seem to be in the habit picking the best support bands you could ever hope for; catching this tour is highly recommended.