Consumed

It's hot!

But not as hot as Consumed.
This band are seriously one of the finest acts anywhere to be seen. Last night's EP launch show saw them in all their masterful glory. I loved it, they loved it, we all loved it. The new EP is somewhat amazing, but live it is an entity all of its own. Heavy, fast, melodic, catchy, dare I say... perfect? I dare. The sound was on point and every song, new and old, was thrust at us like we had just asked them for a spanking!

Go and treat yourself to a copy of the beautiful black and white splatter vinyl over at www.umlautrecords.co.uk and make sure you catch them live soon if you haven't already.

In glorious support was Goober Patrol. If ever there was a party song band I think Goobers rule all. I'm of that age where I should probably be able to still dance away carefree yet the resulting aches and pains of exuberance often halt me in tracks. Not last night! The infectious grooves had me goofing about like I was a wistful teen once more. I'm so glad they love coming back for more when we come calling.

The treat that is Sweet Empire had a gig cancelled in Peterborough late on in the day. So, with a swift text and a 20 minute slot being made available, they provided us with some delightful melodic punk rock. It was beautiful. Go check the Dutch guys out, you won't be disappointed.

On a Hiding to Nothing or OAHTN (sounds a bit like a sex groan if said!) make me fall in love every time I see them. Al and co. were seriously on time! Chico (Brazilian drum machine) was at the venue before we arrived yet the others arrive seconds before they were due to setup and play (though no fault of their own I might add... you try getting to a show after just moving house or having a 2 week old baby. Bravo boys...bravo.). Not that this quashes any of their talent or ability to smash out their songs perfectly. Time after time these guys slay. Go check em out.

Opening the night were newcomers Paradigms. The nice thing about new bands is that moment where your ears go, "Oi, brain... listen up! This is a bit of alright". This band have had 6 months to get their act together for this show after saying yes to it with only 3 songs in the locker. They treat us to 30 minutes of great music. Dual vocals, catchy punk rock with a swaggery bounce sounds damn good. They've obviously been working hard as all the songs have a certain something that you know you wanna move to. I hold these guys to account of me having such good time yesterday. Well done boys, hope to see a lot more of you in the future.

So how do you follow Consumed? I'd say, "err... they're a headline act! Don't you just stand outside the venue and bask in the sweat that once was?" Apparently not! Müg decide they can do one better and hit the headliners remains with a furious Descendents covers set. I'm not at liberty to tell you how it went. I sang most of the words correctly and the rest of the band did an awesome job which after 1 and a half practices isn't bad. We got some nice kudos from the Goobers and was really fun to do. Maybe we'll drag it out again at Christmas like a moth-eaten jumper with last years gravy stains on!

Massive thanks as always to our guy Paul Smith and the New Cross Inn crew. Lauren for being my sidekick for the day

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Have a gorgeous week
Mat
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