Glassjaw? In the UK? Never!

Here is a tip for you all, if you are ever unfortunate enough to only be able to buy seated tickets for a gig at the HMV Forum in Kentish Town, do the following. Sit upstairs for a bit, then calmly get up, leave the seated section and walk down the set of stairs opposite the one you used to get up there. You will find yourself in the standing area, complete with merch stand, no questions asked.



That was what I ended up doing last night so that, by the time Napalm Death hit the stage in a wave of distortion and long hair, I was near the front, feeling very smug at my ninja like sneaky skills. It was worth it. As support slots go, not many bands can call upon the services of possibly the most legendary of British Grind bands ever (the title I have just awarded Napalm Death), so you'll probably want to be near the front for the event. Otherwise you'll miss out on a close up look at a crazy Brummie man jerking round the stage like a puppet whose strings are being pulled by an overexcited toddler. You'll also miss out on a cheeky gander of bassist Shane Embury's quite beautiful long frizzy hair/bald patch combo.
On top of that, the music was also pretty sweet (if you're into grind) and even if you're not a fan, I would challenge you to not feel happy watching four middle aged man having as much metal related fun as the band clearly were.
The only problem with having support with such a polarising musical style was that there was a significant portion of the crowd that were, to understate, slightly confused. So when Glassjaw hit the stage at pretty much dead on nine there were quite a few relieved faces in the audience. You could almost read their minds 'Finally, a band whose lyrics we know and can actually hear!'

The main event then was well received from the start even though the set itself was sadly lacking in early material. Only one song (Siberian Kiss, which ended the main set) from 'Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence' was played with most songs coming from this year’s 'Our Colour Green' EP and second album 'Worship and Tribute'. This in itself, while slightly disappointing for saddos like me, didn't actually effect the main set in terms of quality at all. After all Ape Dos Mil, All Good Junkie Go To Heaven and Tip Your Bartender all got an airing among others.

Daryl Palumbo, who possesses possibly the greatest mouth to head size ratio in hardcore, dominated the stage from start to finish. Sure you could see the rest of band, static and focused on their instruments, but to do that you had to somehow look past the small whirlwind stalking the edge of the stage, mic in hand. I honestly haven't seen many frontmen look that in charge of a gig.

There was, however, one thing that put a slight downer on the whole event, the encore. As mentioned, the main set was pretty devoid of some Glassjaw classics (Ry Ry's Song anyone?) and so when the band ambled back onstage to play a few more tracks I think most people assumed that a feast of old skool tracks would follow. Instead the band played their new 'Colouring Book' EP from start to finish.

Now this wouldn't be that much of a problem as the EP is by no means a bad piece of music. However said EP is being handed out AFTER shows on their current tour (for free mind you). You may have noticed a slight issue in that sentence, the word ‘after’. This created a rather awkward predicament where the only people who knew any of the encore were those sad enough to have ripped from the internet an EP they were about to get for free. The result was, to quote one of the friends I was there with 'falling into a coma' while listening to ambient noise with no idea what was really going on. It had the effect of knocking the wind out of what was otherwise a very good show indeed.

Bad move Glassjaw, not, I think, that they care.

p.s. My J key is broken, apologies for any ‘Glassaw’ type fails in there. I’m away for a week now, expect the Strokes and Yuck album reviews next Friday (finally!)