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constap2-blog · 10 years

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Royal Blood, live at The Leadmill

Queuing outside the neon lights of one of Sheffield’s most highly touted small venues had the relatively small crowd divided. Half an hour before the doors opened, my fellow queue-goers consisted of completely emotionless combat-wearing people, giving murderous glares whenever someone sang an incorrect or poorly timed lyric, or those dressed as skeletons who were lovely and sociable, despite making references to incredibly outdated memes.

Throughout the night, the crowd may have been incredibly mundane at best, being either detached from the freight-train sound which the duo blasted out to near-perfection or trying to mosh to slower songs such as ‘Blood Hands’, insisting that drumming on your back for the full set was just a bit of fun, honestly, but it didn’t take away from the experience as a whole.

Drummer Ben Thatcher stood centre stage and parted the crowd, as security attempted to chemically bond me with the person behind me, as though I could fold away like an elegant storage solution. A coffin came through the crowd which was heaved over the barrier, and on stage to reveal a blank-faced Mike Kerr who then proceeded to belt out the immense-sounding B-side, ‘Hole’, with the duo, and the majority of the crowd dressed as skeletons, with varying degrees of convincingness.

The entrance, and subsequent performance of ‘Hole’ had set the tone for the night, and the band proceeded to live up to expectations. Apart from a tiny mic issue, and the odd off note in the closing number, the vigorously played ‘Out of the Black’, it was a great performance which made you want to mosh to every song at some point, if you had the physical space and capability to do so.

Kerr’s vocals seem to have the rare talent of remaining consistent in the transition from album recordings to live performance, although this was somewhat ruined by the drunk guy behind me belting out the chorus to ‘Little Monster’ to point where something dropped. Granted, for those who aren’t too familiar with their music, Royal Blood’s discography may seem relatively repetitive, as with other bands like Rage Against The Machine; the guy next to me really wanted to get into the spirit of things, head-banging like he was intent on breaking his neck, but when it got to the less well acclaimed B-side ‘You Want Me’, he understandably gave in. He deserved a medal for his efforts, but gigs as small as these need people who know pretty much every potential song which could be played.

However, the variation, or interpreted lack thereof, in their songs can’t be helped, and it’s a matter of personal taste. One of few other quarrels was the set itself, and the songs played. I appreciate that Royal Blood aren’t exactly a purveyor of slow, more mundane songs, but perhaps throwing in a cover lovely cover of ‘Ace of Spades’, or playing their catchier B-sides such as ‘Love & Leave It Alone’ would have been much more appreciated than the filler tunes of their latest album. Unfortunately, their singles retain the best tracks with the most punch.

If you do like being blasted with brilliant riff-centred noise for a good half hour or so, you can’t go wrong with Royal Blood, and their concise live performances. While I’m not a fan of their slower work, the likes of ‘Blood Hands’ really emphasis their prolonged two-prong assault on the senses, the calm really helps elevate the upcoming storm.

And for fifteen quid, you even get a support act too. Pretty good deal, getting to see one of Britain’s fastest growing bands in a small venue. Especially if you get a group of moshing skeletons dancing to the appropriately vibrant ‘Ten Tonne Skeleton’, it all made for one of the best Halloween nights out there.

After support from Turbowolf, Royal Blood played 12 tracks consisting of:

- Hole

- Come On Over

- You Can Be So Cruel

- Figure It Out

- You Want Me

- Better Strangers

- Little Monster

- Blood Hands

- Careless

- Ten Tonne Skeleton

- Loose Change

- Out of the Black

#royalbloodlive

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