Lostprophets - Glasgow - 25/04/2012

The joys of being an amateur music journalism is the occasional free gig tickets.  I have always enjoyed Lostprophet's music but I can honestly say I have never been a massive fan but one of my flatmates is hence why I expressed interest in the tickets.

The support band was Modestep which from what I witnessed is some form of dubstep - not my taste in music at all and therefore retreated to the back bar to get myself a cherry whiskey - which they did not have any of.  If you are into dubstep you would probably dig this band but for me I just felt the way my mother felt when she had to listen to Slipknot through my bedroom walls.

After seeing Lostprophet's live though I would say I have more appreciation for them but still stand by my argument that their older music is far superior to their new material and I am therefore glad that they played a lot of their old material.

During the gig I noted that the vocals of lead singer Ian Watkins (Also known as: the good looking one) were not very good but found out afterwards that he has been unwell this week due to rib problems.  After that I empathised with him and admired him for still trying - considering he was probably in a lot of pain he done a good job.

What was most notable though is the way the rest of the band stepped up and compensated for Watkin's not being well enough to be the front man.  As a band there is a lot of love there and considering how long the band has been on the scene this is nice to see the band still have that closeness that some bands lose.

I did find it weird that they were all wearing matching t-shirts though - almost like a boyband. Very strange for a band that refer to themselves as punk.  In my book they are pop-punk but lets not be one to burst their bubble.

Overall the music was good.  I would be lying to say that it was outstanding but it was good.  They played the hits that you wanted them to  like 'Last Train Home' and 'Rooftops' and I felt almost sorry for them that the upstairs section of the 02 Academy was not open due to poor ticket sales - especially after I read in Kerrang that it was a sell out.

 I don't know what happened there and I expected the crowd to be a young crowd but there was a fair amount of people my age there - 21 - so not exactly old but you catch my drift.

Skindred - Jagermeister Music Tour - 11/04/12 - Glasgow o2 Academy

When I attend gigs I score them on a number of things but I think the thing that matters the most is the energy of the band and the atmosphere of the crowd -the music aside.  If you go see and a band and it is blatantly obvious that they cannot be bothered being there well in my opinion they would be as well just not being there even if the sound is good.

Reggae metal band Skindred however score very high on all fronts mentioned though – especially energy and adoration.   Front man Benji Webbe appeared on stage looking like a more kitch version of Will.I.Am – dressed nearly all in white and wearing a top hat.   Apparently the man loves to dress up.  The look totally worked for him though and us metal heads know that he is cooler than Will.I.Am.

This was my first time seeing the band and I attended the Jagermeister Music Tour in Glasgow based solely on Skindred headlining and the ticket was only £5.  You can’t even go to the cinema these days for that price never mind see four bands.  The band played besides Black Spiders, Therapy and Yashin.

The band mixed things up a bit by including parts of other people’s songs in their songs and between starting a new song.  Back in Black by AC/DC was the perfect song to use and got the crowd going but Beyonce’s Single Ladies was the most entertaining.  The whole gig was very entertaining watching Benji dancing along to single ladies and cracking the odd joke.  It was fun but delivering a good performance is obviously something the band does take seriously.

Every song sounded amazing live and Benji’s vocals actually surprised me.  I was wondering if his vocals would sound as strong live – they did.  He managed to balance the slick vocals and the heavier metal growls.

The band were also flawless in their performance but at times I feel they were out shadowed by Benji’s massive personality but then again a lot of successful bands are.

I wish I could have gone out after the gig as the music really put me in the mood to party.  Well, that and to go bask in the sun somewhere.   Especially after the Doom Riff with its big carnival drum beats.

Sadly I had to leave the gig early due to having to travel home and missed three of my favourite Skindred songs but what I witnessed before leaving was nothing short of amazing.  I can’t wait to see them play Download Festival this summer and if you have not seen the band before you should make a point of going see them when you can.