Manchester: Live: Chiodos

Sugarmill, Stoke
3rd February 2009


I hear a shrill scream through the frosty pub window while waiting for the doors to open on this cold evening and it wasn’t someone getting snowballed in the face.

Through into the frost bitten night I saw a definite fan of the band. Chiodos shirt on show and boyfriend in hand, she waited eagerly, and soon after more teen girls arrive in a cacophonous sound that would put Chiodos lead singer’s Craigery Owens own high pitched vocals to shame.

First band up are Basilisk. These guys waist no time with getting to know their audience and the three members begin the assault with twisted riffs, arpeggio bass licks and some heavy drum playing. What got me with this band was despite all this cathartic energy and presence the band seemed relatively relaxed with the drummer looking as if he was watching a Saturday morning cartoon with friends. Their set is heavy on the instrumental with a few screamed vocals that work well in the right places and seemed to go down well tonight with the audience.

The second act up is a man and his laptop by the name of Sonny. Despite looking a lot like a hippy version of Corey Feldman, the kids here don’t get it tonight and are here to watch a band play. Chaos erupts!
The young Chiodos fans do what only they know how to do at band shows. Start a mosh pit! Now I hope one-day mosh pits will be ridden from this Earth, as they are destructive in the sense that you’re trying to hurt another human being without any sense of reason. But suddenly it’s not all bad and the kids begin to hug and bop up and down when a few more familiar tracks start to rise from Sonny’s set and not all was lost for his valiant effort tonight, a lot of people wouldn’t have the balls to get up and do what he did.

Next up, band Exit Ten come on stage to what sounds like a theme tune to an Alton Towers theme park ride. That aside they don’t linger too long and break into a flawless set. While not being the most original band, they play proficiently; know their instruments and the songs are very well written. The singer was a bouncy character, up on the monitor speakers at the front and seemed to levitate over the entire stage during the set; it was hard to ignore him. Riffs were heavy and catchy with breakdowns and tapping going on in the set but I felt the vocal melody’s got a bit repetitive nearing the end.

It’s what all the kids have been waiting for and all tension breaks as Exit Ten leave the stage for Chiodos to take the reigns for the next hour. All members seemed to be on fire and in a mood to party. The crowd agrees and the exchanges between them are very evident through the night when the lead singer flinches as someone gets a cheeky smack on his behind when he’s not looking. They play their songs with skill as each band member takes command of their tools of destruction and to my surprise try and get a wall of death going in the tiny venue. The security wasn’t sure what would happen as the young unknowing fans clash like pre-school Gladiators to “The Undertakers Thirst For Revenge”. It makes me wonder if this band will be around in the next two years and if these current fans will still be listening to them. Chiodos are the best of the current crop of hardcore/emo bands to come out of the states but will their current hard tour schedule save them? If they play with the passion they displayed tonight they could be around for a while longer but I think the scene died a long while ago.

Basilisk / For fans of: Fall Of Troy, These Arms Are Snakes, Circle Takes The Square

Exit Ten/ For fans of: Hopesfall, Funeral For A Friend, Hondo Maclean
Chiodos/ For fans of: Saosin, AFI, Underoath