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The Venue, Preston
Friday March 16th
 A few weeks back, we bumped into Wigan band Testosterone who confessed
to being somewhat nervous about their upcoming gig.
Naturally, this got us curious. After all, the band have played
countless gigs over the last year or so, why would they possibly be
nervous about one more?
Turns out that the band were set to take their Blink 182 inspired
pop-punk to do battle with two of Preston’s most popular metal bands,
and they were set to do it on the Prestonians’ home turf. Certainly an
interesting situation then, and one which we just had to see for
ourselves.
Rise to Ruin are up first for what we later find out is their last ever
gig, and on first glance, they’re certainly an imposing sight. Taking
over the entire stage, they seem to be a twenty strong army, though in
the sober light of day we’re inclined to believe that we’ve made this
up, and there were probably only five of them.
Either way, the point is that the metal militia currently making their
presence felt on the stage look like they mean business, and sound that
way too.
Throttling guitars and bass rampage over head-stomping drums, sealed
with vigorous vocals that unfortunately find themselves lost amongst the
onslaught of bludgeoning riffs scraping across the packed out venue.
Whilst not particularly unique, it more or less sounds good, and could
easily whet the appetite of anyone with a fondness for the harshest
moments of Slayer, Down, and Lamb of God.
Which many people here tonight seem to have, and whilst there’s nothing
about Rise to Ruin that makes us get really excited, it seems their fans
have had a pretty good time and the band themselves have played a decent
farewell show. Ah, Rise to Ruin, we barely knew ye.
Testosterone appear to be heading into uncharted domain as of late, not
just because they’ve agreed to be sandwiched in between two metal bands
tonight but also because they’re starting to sound like a band unleashed
from the shackles of the pop-punk genre by which they’re usually defined
and morphing naturally into an unrestrained, pure rock band.
Taking the stage next, the band confirm such hype with new track ‘Dirty
Rock ‘n’ Roll’. Arguably their best to date, the song is a whirlwind of
energy; a cyclonic lead riff whipping its way into a clobbering
thunderstorm of drums and bass and yet still giving those inclined to
cut a rug a good excuse to hit the dancefloor. It’s a new direction for
Testosterone, and one which we’re eager to see them follow.
However, the band aren’t likely to turn their back’s on what made us,
and many others, fans in the first place, and follow this up with two
tracks entitled ‘The Lesbian Song’ and ‘Beer’; a reminder that, at the
end of the day, they’re still as foolish as ever.
By now the band seem to have to done away with any nerves they had
preceding tonight’s show, going so far as to joke with the metal fans in
attendance and dedicate a cover of Nerf Herder’s ‘Pantera Fans in Love’
to, well, Pantera fans.
This isn’t the only time the band will make light of their situation,
with frontman Dave Costello later slipping in a sly dig at power metal
outfit Dragonforce during a run through of old favourite ‘Punk Rock
Rebel’. This might seem like a brave move, but it’s made all the less
scary by the fact the crowd appear to be enjoying the show, and as the
show comes to an end, it’s apparent that the band have enjoyed it too.
Finally, it’s up to headliners Without Motive to take the stage, and
damn are they impressive.
OK, so their rough ‘n’ tumble brand of metal takes a few songs to
digest, but when it does, you know know about it and presented as it is
here, in such an off-the-scale live show, it’s near impossible to
complain.
With soaring vocals like sirens that signal the oncoming juggernaut of
riffs hurtling at high speeds towards the crowd, Without Motive make the
kind of heavy metal specifically designed to get heads banging, horns
flying and the whole place rocking, which by and large, they do well.
Backed by machine gun beats coming from a drummer out of our view, the
band command the stage with an intense presence, which is always nice in
an age when many bands seem more concerned with pouting and looking cool
than just rocking the hell out like they’re supposed to.
Fronted by a bassist/vocalist who devotes equal effort to slamming his
four-stringed weapon of choice with aplomb and roaring down the mic with
gusto, Without Motive round out their sound with a dual guitar attack
consisting of one snake-like chap who coils round his axe, sending
sinuous licks out into the madness and one clearly unfettered rhythm man
who seems incapable of standing still for more than two notes.
One minute he’s climbing all over the back of the stage, the next he’s
up on the speakers to the front of it, guiding someone’s hand in playing
a few chords for him before kissing a girl on the front row and
generally going mental, not once taking his hands from his axe or
loosing the wild look in his eye and putting on such a show that, swept
up in the enthusiastic atmosphere of it all, a certain member of our
team hunts him down after the gig to pester him with an unhealthy amount
of hero worship (Erm, yeah, sorry about that – Ed).
But this is no one man show, and Without Motive combine their efforts in
blasting out swooping scapes of panoptic rock, whipping up an animated
air of energy that, whether we like it or not, we all succumb too and
find ourselves riveted by such a captivating show.
The band bring their set to a close, and it seems that everyone has had
a good time, and as we take our leave, we reflect on Testosterone’s
earlier anxiety.
There was no reason for them to be nervous, was there? It doesn’t matter
whether a band play pop-punk, metal or post-grunge-disco-grind-tellytubbycore,
great music is great music and as long as they’ve got killer tunes and
an awesome stage show, people will enjoy it.
At least two of tonight’s acts had exactly those two things, and we
absolutely loved it.
Recommended Links:
Rise to Ruin
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www.myspace.com/prestonbandrisetoruin
Testosterone
►
www.myspace.com/testosterone
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