The addition of The Wytches onto the NME tour, in place of the absent Amazing Snakeheads, was a welcoming one. A last minute decision by NME saw the band embark on the third date of the tour (the bands second) as newcomers. Having previously played at the 6 Music Festival By Day with Fat White Family and Slaves, it was hotting up to be a rowdy night for the Newcastle crowd.
Starting off proceedings, The Wytches frontman Kristian Bell’s vocals provided a grinding and groaning display. They thrashily surged through songs, though it’s not easy to work out what they were playing; what is evident throughout is that its vicious, Horror goth/metal. With a backdrop of a pineapple and a grinning band member, the band’s psychedelic and murky rock sound echoed round the room providing an intense start to the night.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdp3NvKyUi0&w=740&h=422]
Slaves were promoted one place higher in the bill due to the new addition and the two-piece band duly delivered. The Garage-Punk duo provided a heavy and mesmerizing set to the crowd. They rapidly and vigorously whizzed through tracks including ‘Feed The Mantaray’, a crunchy punk blast, complaining about paper-thin walls and their irritation of the noisy lovemaking of a flatmate called Tim. The primal energy of Slaves moved from the stage and into the crowd providing an exciting and energetic live show.
This then paved the way for South London band Fat White Family to take to the stage. A band with a reputation for their live performances, I was interested to see how the band would perform and what the audience’s reaction would be. What was to come was totally unexpected. To me, the whole set seemed like a continuous cacophony of noise or a ramshackle mess, with lead singer Lias Saoudi’s vocals drowned out by the deafening sound of guitars, drums and crowd singing. However, this motivated the raucous crowd to completely lose it and mosh non-stop. The yobbish frontman was shirtless before their first song even reached its chorus, hurling himself into the mutant blues of ‘Auto Neutron’. With added head banging and microphone swinging the six-piece were perfect motivators for the ecstatic crowd.
The anticipation for headliners Palma Violets was now sky high. The crowd were now compressed against the barrier with no room to spare. Opening the set with an up-beat version of ‘Rattlesnake Highway’ the band weren’t taking proceedings lightly. Queue a plethora of flailing bodies in and out of mosh pits to the tune of the riotous sound created by the London quartet. New songs ‘Matador’ and ‘English Tongue’ provide a darker sense to the bands style but this doesn’t shy away from the unique groove the band are known for. Playing almost the whole of debut album 180 the band are in their element and relishing the moment spectacularly. Finishing the set with fan favourites ‘Chicken Dippers’ and ‘Best Of Friends’ provided the perfect ending for the exhausted crowd. Set closer ‘Best Of Friends’ allowed the crowd to travel into a world of Chilli Jenson and Sam Fryer’s heaven for one last time. As the band walked off stage, the crowd travelled home ears still ringing wishing it could happen all over again.
Third date of the tour, this is only the start for the four bands. Going off tonight’s events, its destined to be an eventful one.
Words by Bill Edgar