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Manchester Academy II
12/01/07
 The
last couple of years can not have been easy for Brit rockers Hundred
Reasons. Dropped by their label, picked up by another one a year later,
a guitarist leaving and a vocalist knocked out of action by throat
problems, the band arrive in Manchester tonight as part of this
rescheduled tour to prove that they’re back, and ready to rock.
Yet it’s up to New Yorkers God Fires Man to kick things off, and we’re
almost immediately impressed.
Sounding at times like the closest thing to a metal band without
actually being one, and at others like a more charged-up Foo Fighters,
perhaps one of GFM’s best features is that they manage to sound so
familiar without actually sounding like anything we’ve heard before.
A meaty bass drum provides the heart of the band’s powerful sound, a
sound that combines scraping, catatonic riffs with subtle-yet-effective
bass lines, an impassioned vocal and the occasional perfectly-timed
falsetto, all delivered with an untamed energy and vigour.
Keep an eye on God Fires Man, something tells us they’re set to be come
a lot bigger.
Kids in Glass Houses are up next, and we so desperately want to write
them off as a bunch of pretty boys looking to capitalize on the current
emo and McFly-influenced pop-rock trends.
We’re not going to though.
Yes, they are a good-looking bunch of lads, but it ain’t really fair to
judge them on that just because we have a few issues with our own
aesthetic failings, and as soon as we start looking at what counts, the
music, we begrudgingly enjoy ourselves.
Comparisons to fellow Welshmen Lost Prophets are easy to make, not just
because both bands share the same nationality, but because Kids in Glass
Houses display much of that sprightly-yet-edgy guitar-pop that was such
a big part of the ‘Prophets last album.
Added together with some catchy choruses and whopping, hard rock
moments, it’s clear that the band make some great pop music, amplified
by an excitable live show which sees the lads constantly fighting for
room atop the stage monitors and occasionally reminding us of US
metalcore outfit Atreyu in their rock ‘n’ roll mannerisms.
And whilst you might not find us front row at any Kids in Glass Houses
gigs in the near future, we can’t deny that they’re a fun band who hit
the right notes with much of tonight’s crowd, and are likely to do the
same with many more crowds in the months to come.
Which brings us on to the main event.
Having toured relentlessly since their inception, if there’s one thing
that always impresses us the most when we go to a Hundred Reasons show,
it’s the massive, incredibly devoted fan base the band have attracted
along the way.
The Academy 2 is quite an intimate venue, with low ceilings and very
close-knit set up which apart from making this probably the worst choice
to host a claustrophobia convention, means that the band’s army of loyal
followers can get up close and personal with their heroes, and become
almost as an integral part of the show as the band themselves.
Never ones to do things half-heartedly, Hundred Reasons waste no time in
launching into what is still one of their biggest hits, ‘If I could’,
and drive the crowd into a mass sing-a-long frenzy.
We get the feeling that the band want to get this old classic out of the
way so that they can concentrate on new material, and whilst we can’t
blame them, if this is the case, Colin, Larry & Co. certainly don’t show
it.
Playing the song, and all those that follow it, with their usual passion
and intensity, the smiles on the faces of Hundred Reasons say it all:
This is a band who love what they do, and do what they love very well.
As both band and audience swap sweat and sing almost every word back to
one another, we’re reminded that, although we can’t quite put a finger
on what it is, there’s something about Hundred Reasons that makes them
so much more exciting than a lot of bands.
Perhaps it’s the music itself; swooping riffs and soaring choruses
colliding against a barrage of ferocious rock and spine-tingling
melodies.
Or maybe it’s their stage presence. Though we’re occasionally distracted
by a young lad who crowd surfs onto the stage a few too many times for
our liking, we’re mesmerized by the five musicians on the stage.
Whilst many a band’s mission objective is to saunter on stage and look
cool, Hundred Reasons have only one thing on their agenda, rocking out.
And whilst frontman Colin Doran’s ‘tween-song battle cries, usually
along the lines of “Let’s get ready to rock!” may seem a bit clichéd,
there’s no doubt that he yells them with all the sincerity of a man who
wants nothing more than to put on a great rock show, something his band
excels at.
Whether they’re firing out anthems from last year’s comeback effort,
‘Kill Your Own’, classics from their 2002 debut, ‘Ideas Above Our
Station’, or great tunes from their ill-fated second release,
‘Shatterproof is Not a Challenge’, it becomes clear that what makes them
such an exciting band is a combination of both. The music and the stage
show gelling together to prove that whatever happened over the last few
years, Hundred Reasons are back, and they don’t half rock.
Check out ‘In
The Hotseat’ for an exclusive interview with Hundred Reasons’
guitarist Larry Hibbitt
Recommended Links:
God Fires Man
►
www.godfiresman.com
►
www.myspace.com/godfiresman
Kids in Glass Houses
►
www.kidsinglasshouses.com
►
www.myspace.com/kidsinglasshouses
Hundred Reasons
►
www.hundredreasons.com
►
www.myspace.com/hundredreasons
►
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