Slaves at O2 Institute Birmingham - gig review

Last Wednesday, I spontaneously went to go and see Slaves at the O2 Institute in Birmingham after randomly bumping into Laurie from the band in town and being added to the guest list earlier that day due to the kindness of Laurie himself.

It's been a manic year filled with gigs and music highlights, however, Wednesday night with these guys left 2015 on a memorable note to say the least.

The garage punk Kent duo's music seems to personally target their fans with an anger fuelled projection of intense noise demanding to be heard accompanying upfront lyrics, as if lead vocalist Isaac is hollering orders that any listener would struggle to disagree with. Due to their rather confrontational vibe and urgent sound, the duo have been known to split opinions but that's a sure sign of a good band.

It truly was a chaotic night, with balcony ticket holders watching in awe from above as the mosh pit below them erupted around the entirety of the room; the floor shaking as if struggling to cater for the typical temperament of Slaves' fans.

Each song had the kind of energy that was almost hard to keep up with, if you blinked then you'd miss it; with Isaac's comic yet straight forward explanations behind some of their songs in between acting as pit stops and giving the crowd mere moments to recuperate before bracing themselves for the next hit. I personally enjoyed hearing about how 'Where's Your Car Debbie?" came about in particular, with the explanation consisting of the pair of them walking a girl back to her car and being scared of being attacked by a rumoured big foot lurking around in the night. Well known single 'The Hunter' entailed the kind of reaction that's rare to see these days with upcoming bands, with the almost natural response casting an animal like hunger within the crowd - a refreshing moment to be a part of. Determination and energy levels rose with Isaac regularly enforcing that 'Birmingham is always one of the best if not the best crowds to play', the rowdy nature of the audience only magnifying with Laurie making it his mission to successfully crowd surf from the front of the room all the way to the sound guy and back again.

The whole night was truly something special to be a part of and I'll be sure to catch Slaves again as soon as I can next year.