 |
 |
 |
› Waking Theo
The Junction, York - 27th August 2007
Tucked away in a suitably non-descript location in the ancient city of York, stands an equally non-descript pub venue know as the ‘Junction’. However like many things in this world appearances can and usually are misleading, for the ‘Junction’ is one of the North’s premier non-main stream metal venues.
Tonight the ‘Junction’ plays host to ‘Waking Theo’ and supporting cohorts in what promises to be a night of mayhem and metal, all wrapped up in the deeply addictive seediness that is usual with local venues.
It’s fair to say at this point (if you haven’t already noticed) that the timing of the ‘Waking Theo’ gig is a little unfortunate in that it clashes with the must be place to be for metal heads on a August Bank Holiday weekend – Leeds/Reading Festival. The impact and pull of the festival is obvious in the size (or lack of) crowd.
Now as it happens ‘Waking Theo’ already pulled there gig on the 23rd in Leeds as the anticipated crowd failed to show, needless to say that Leeds/Reading Festival played a large part in this.
Still this wasn’t the case tonight, a small crowd yes but they still played with all the vigour and enthusiasm you’d have expected from a band playing to a hundred not a hand full. In fact credit where credit is due, this was the case with each of the supporting bands as well so hats off to – ‘Shigai’, ‘GroundSoul’ & ‘Digicore’ who also played brilliant sets.
Well as far as performances go it was everything you’d expect from a band playing the outer-circuits of the metal scene, however don’t be confused with me saying these are a ‘pub’ band – far from it.
Waking Theo oozed professionalism and confidence their entire performance making blindingly obvious why these guys managed to attract a recording deal from ‘Hangman’s Joke Records’. A deal that ended recently after the death of the labels Chief Executive which plunged the label into liquidation overnight.
Playing what can only be described as a brilliantly crafted mix of metal from across the entire genera, melded into an epic sounding head-banging melodic thrash metal that makes even the most tentative of us want to jump head long into the pit.
In a metal scene currently dominated by trends and fashions, Waking Theo stands out with a thrillingly unique sound all of its own and a desire to create, what seems to be lacking in modern British metal, truly memorable and well performed songs.
Written by: John McGregor
|
|
|