K! editor Paul Brannigan reports from this year's South By South West festival.
Friday, March 20
On Day 3 of SXSW all the talk is about the least secret 'secret' gig in history. Metallica are in town to launch their Guitar Hero game with a show at the 2,100 capacity Stubb's venue and everyone knows about it as confirmation of the show leaked online a week ahead. Hilariously, even as the local TV news network is interviewing diehard Metallica fans outside the venue over the sound of James Hetfield's guitars being soundchecked, SXSW are claiming with straight faces that tonight's 'special guests' are electronic duo The Crystal Method. Riiiiiiight.
Tonight is also the night of the Kerrang!/Raw Power Management showcase at Latitude 30, a cool little venue on San Jacinto Boulevard with a killer sound system flown in specially from the UK as the club is playing host to a number of British music showcases this week. Sometimes you know a night is just gonna kick off big-time, and that signal comes tonight towards the end of a blinding set from California hardcore mob Revolution Mother, fronted by skate legend Mike Vallely, and invited onto the bill at the 11th hour by Gallows as a replacement for the unfortunate In Case Of Fire, who were forced to abort their own trip to Texas when drummer Colin Robinson contacted chicken pox. Having already blown away the full-to-bursting club with thumping biker-punk anthems such as Come On and Roll Tonight from their debut album Glory Bound plus a thunderous, revved-up version of Sabbath's Hole In The Sky, the Mother men bring their set to a climax with a run through AC/DC's Let There Be Rock. During the song's breakdown, guitarist Justin Hampton - think ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons reborn in the hulking body of Black Label Society's Zakk Wylde - straps on an old army helmet and wanders right into the pit, holding his guitar in front of him like a Roman standard bearer marching into war. He then offers it up to those encircling him, encouraging each person in turn to strum out some distorted chords. It's a fabulous moment, and one which throws down a studded gauntlet for the rest of the bands tonight.
Check out footage of the band playing Above The Crawl here.
Pre-Revolution Mother, Kerrang!'s Best British Newcomers Slaves To Gravity open tonight's showcase. Sadly, the Londoners were forced to leave bassist Toshi Ogawa back in the UK due to visa hassles, but with Stitch D from The Defiled handling bass and backing vocal duties this setback doesn't bleed into their confident, classy set. With the band's second album due in September, tonight provides the opportunity to road test some new material, but it's Scatter The Crow favourite Mr. Regulator which finds most favour with the crowd.
Post-Revolution Mother, you do feel a little nervous for You Me At Six, as the room has now filled up with proper denim-and-leather clad metalheads. But the Surrey boys turn in a storming performance and charm the crowd with their songwriting class and infectious energy. Guitarist Max Helyer plays so hard that his hand is dripping blood one song in, and by the end Josh Franceschi has the whole crowd saying along with their hands in the air. If the Six can win over a hardcore crowd like this, there's no limit to their potential.
Next up...Bring Me The Horizon. Despite losing guitarist Curtis Ward within the week, the Sheffield band are in good spirits when they arrive in Austin, and tonight they are unbelievable. Playing nightly on the on-going Taste Of Chaos tour has done wonders for the band and when they hit the Latitude 30 stage it's like someone has chucked sticks of dynamite into the room. It's absolute bedlam, with stage divers launching themselves from the bar, glasses shattering left, right and centre and a bloodied, wild-eyed Oli Sykes directing the chaos with a maniacal grin. Chelsea Smile is an absolute monster and when Liam Cromier from Cancer Bats joins in on a brutal Death Breath (check out the footage here) it sounds like the end of the world. Absolutely astonishing.
Cromier barely has time to pause for breath before his own Cancer Bats are upon us. It's criminal that the 5K rated Hail Destroyer hasn't moved this brilliant band firmly into the public consciousness - it surely can't be right that the Bats are merely opening Taste Of Chaos - but such injustices are unimportant when you're watching them destroy a small club. Tonight as ever, they're a riot, with Lucifer's Rocking Chair and Hail Destroyer in particular sending the pit into a frenzy once more. Even the 200 people locked outside the venue at this point are going mental. Result.
It's now 1am. Gallows time. Given what has gone before you can't really imagine the night ascending to a new level, but no-one out-punks Gallows in clubs this size, and tonight - showcasing their stunning upcoming Grey Britain album - the Watford quintet are simply magnificent. The last time Gallows were at SXSW they played one of the finest gigs I've ever seen at Emos, but this is even better. If you thought the tracks on Orchestra Of Wolves were intense, just wait 'til you hear the likes of Death Voices and I Dread The Night, all razor sharp riffs, killer melodies and raw gang choruses which echo around your head for days. But it's the sense of community which really elevates this gig to another level: Frank Carter, Lags and Stu are in the audience for most of the gig, and with Carter throwing the mic to Liam Cormier, Matt Bronx, Mike V and half the audience at any given point, there is no 'us' and 'them' here, just a shared thrill in the power of rock 'n' roll at its most electric. The gigs ends with a utterly chaotic Orchestra Of Wolves, shards of glass and bruised bodies on the floor and Rolo Tomassi's Eva Spence screaming her heart out onstage. And suddenly no-one is talking about that Metallica show anymore...
Okay, you'd expect me to rave about this show, given that it's a Kerrang! show, but quite genuinely this is just about the single best gig I've been to in 22 years of gig-going. No lie. Rock 'n' roll doesn't get any more free, any more unhinged, any more exhilarating than this. Okay, I'm biased, but here's what the main players had to say about a night that'll live forever in the memory of everyone lucky enough to see it....
Frank Carter (Vocals, Gallows)
"I don't think Gallows has ever played a better show. Everyone was having a great time, people got involved and lost their inhibitions and I think it's one of the first times I can safely say that Gallows did exactly what we set out to do in the very beginning. We tore the stage up, tore the floor up, tore the bar up, broke windows, doors, light fittings.. and people. At one point our manager began to bench press a bar table before sending it to the floor in pieces. Paul Brannigan even dragged me round in a headlock before I gave him the microphone and he finished singing a whole track for me. There wasn't a sour face in the room. It was by far the best Gallows show I have ever been a part of, and in my mind a perfect example of pure punk rock."
Laurent Barnard (Guitar, Gallows)
"Playing a show at 1 am in a town that starts partying at midday was hard for a couple of us Gallows boys but the end result was totally worthwhile. Every band on the bill brought something different to the plate and the late addition of our friends Revolution Mother really helped get the party started. It was definitely one of the most fun shows we've played."
Liam Cormier (Vocals, Cancer Bats)
"Holy fucking shit was that party wild! People were just going off all night. Drinks smashing, beer flying, stage dives, everyone getting so rowdy but really how couldn't you? Gallows, Bring Me, You Me At 6, Rev Mother and Slaves To Gravity on one bill is a fucking serious show!!! If that was a tour, it would melt the world's faces! Or maybe that should just be the Kerrang! Tour next year haha..."
Oli Sykes (Vocals, Bring Me The Horizon)
"The show was off its tits! I was bladdered by the time we played, and I think most of the crowd was too, but it went off! It was one of the best shows I think I've ever played in my life, even though I dont remember all that much about it..."
Josh Franceschi (Vocals, You Me At Six)
"It was awesome! It was hot and I didn't come prepared in regards to my shoes, but all in all it was sweet. First ever show for us in the US surrounded by a lot of friendly faces and we got to bro down with our boys in BMTH. Sweet!"
Mike Vallely (Vocals, Revolution Mother)
"Gallows said we raised the bar tonight? Well, that's a nice thing to say and I'll take it. If what we did in some way contributed to this carnage then that's a nice feeling. I love Gallows, I've loved them since I first saw them play on Warped Tour, and what they did tonight was special."
Tommy Gleeson (Vocals/guitar, Slaves To Gravity)
"Fucking great! We'd played earlier in the day in a spit n' sawdust bar with no PA, so a proper gig was a treat. All the bands sounded awesome. We did miss Tosh, though...."
Do you think it was harder for you to make it...