If you're not careful, you might walk right past Aberdeen's Cellar
35. And upon entering you might think you're in the wrong place. Surely this 50
capacity venue is only home to acoustic acts?
If you thought this, you'd be wrong. Tonight its 'stage' was host to
North East Scotland's finest screamo and hardcore.
First on, after a shaky set up where the mics just would not turn
on, were local 2-piece DIRTDRINKER. With the drum set and amps taking up the
entire 'stage', guitarist/vocalist Renn took to the floor and kicked off the
set with some of the best heavy rock riffs I've ever heard at an Aberdeen gig.
With a few interludes to check if the mics were on yet (they weren't) and to
put a concrete block in front of the drums to stop them moving, DIRTDRINKER
roared through a set of heavy riffs, heavy drums and loud music. Exactly what
this tiny venue needed to open the night up.
After a high pitched punch to the ear from the PA, the mics were set
up for the second band to break the noise pollution law: Perth's Drug Couple.
With the singer wearing an animal mask, it was obvious that this set might be a
little chaotic. It was. But it was this chaos that blended their hardcore sound
with the screamo vocals so well. With loud, aggressive vocals and even louder
music, the frontman paced the dance floor of Cellar 35 as he screamed lyrics in
the faces of fans and first time patrons.
Drug Couple's set ended and they made way for local crust band
Absolutist. During the set up, a member of staff from next door's pub Noose
& Monkey came down to tell bassist Callum to turn the amp down. In my
opinion, that's when you know you're doing something right. Absolutist kicked
things off, and following on from Drug Couple’s aggressive set, what could I
possibly say about Absolutist? Although a little lacking in stage presence,
this band made up for it with how hard they rocked. They put all the energy
they had into punishing their instruments and vocal chords. It paid off.
Cavalcades were next to take their place at the front of the stage.
After a lengthy set up they were ready to begin. You could tell a lot of fans
had come down just to see them play, as all of a sudden the front row was
almost pushed on to the stage. As guitarist Danny asks the front row to take a
step back - which goes unheeded - they begin to play. At this point everyone
realised they should have followed Danny's orders. As soon as the music
started, vocalist Allan completely opened up the floor of Cellar 35 by charging
as far into the crowd as the mic lead would let him. With an amazing blend of
loud, distorted and beautifully clean guitar parts, Cavalcades were the first
band of the night to show real versatility. But, if it weren't for fans
shouting back lyrics, I might not have heard any vocals at all. Whether this
was down to the mic volume being too low, or Allan's habit of pulling the mic
away from his mouth as he screamed, one of the two cast a bad shadow on what
could be described as the best set of the night.
Last on were headliners Kaddish. Described as screamo, I was
expecting something like we had previously heard, but in all honesty they had a
much more Pulled Apart By Horses vibe. Which isn't bad at all. The band played
a great set of songs, but to a crowd that seemed to have lost interest. It was
clear a lot of people were here for the first few bands as Cellar 35 seemed to
slowly empty. Whilst the remaining listeners and drinkers talked amongst
themselves, the band went through a brilliant set list and when 10:30 arrived
the music abruptly stopped and Cellar 35 immediately emptied. I wish everyone
had stayed and given this band the audience they deserved, but unfortunately, on
a slightly melancholic note, the night ended.
JL
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