Kong: ♥ ♥ ♥
Nine Black: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
There is an air of anticipation and excitement tonight as Sheffield’s Indie
scensters sip on their delightfully cheap drinks-the Union’s very own
contribution to binge drinking. As tonight for £4, instead of getting the usual
Indie disco wannabes who care more about their barnet than their music, they
get Nine Black Alps. With two albums of material and more singles than you can
shake a stick at, this is a bargain that a Mr D Dickinson would be proud of,
and don’t the crowd just know it.
First up tonight however are Manchester based three piece Kong. When Nine Black
Alps lead singer Sam Forrest was asked what they were like, he simply replied:
“mental”, and I don’t think anybody watching was going to dispute that. The
matching blood red t-shirts and trousers plus the clown make-up is only half
the story. Their warped metal rock sounds like it was recorded in Satan’s very
own recording booth, occasional vocals battle for position with screeching
guitar riffs.- Although some of the riffs are absolutely face melting I can’t
help but think they sound somewhat similar to the sound your bike made when you
put a can against the wheel, to make it sound like you had an engine.-However
Kong were not nearly as bad as I had expected and perhaps shouldn’t be tarred
with the ‘metal’ brush.
As the Nine Black Alps appear, Sam peers out from behind his flowing locks
resembling a recluse peering from behind the curtains of their bedroom. However
the shy individual that comes across when he is not singing is the complete
contrast to the one that launches into larynx shredding opener ‘Get Your Guns’.
Followed by ‘So in Love’, their homage to Seattle grunge and other lung
shattering favourites, there is little respite in their frantic set. Nobody
displays this more than bass and occasional guitar player Martin Cohen. Dressed
as what looks like a Route 66 trucker, with his Calsberg never more than two
meters away, he bounds around the stage stopping only occasionally to wipe the
sweat from his brow.
“We’ll spend the night, I’ll take my life, we’ll close our eyes, we’ll be dead
by sunrise” Nine Black Alps certainly mean business tonight. Recently dropped
by their record label, they aren’t just playing for fun, they are desperately
trying to raise the money to keep the band alive. Favourites from both albums
as well as b-sides ‘Ocean’ and ‘Ilana Song’ thrill the frenzied crowd and it’s
visible that Nine Black Alps are just as passionate and honest as they have
ever been.
Climaxing with debut album’s ‘Ironside’ and the exquisite 2 minute 56 second
rush of adrenaline that is ‘Shot Down’, the band leave the stage to a crackle
of feedback, and with a quick “ta Sheffield” they are gone. It’s a shame that
the new album’s more mellow moments such as ‘Under the Sun’ and the delightful
‘Happiness and Satisfaction’ were not showcased, but then again they were
perhaps not entirely appropriate for a room of tanked up exam stressed uni
students. The Nine Black Alps are now an endangered species, with no record
company and therefore no money, this could be their last tour. With two very
respectable albums and on evidence of tonight’s show this would be a travesty,
long live Nine Black Alps.
By Ben James
Shefbase meets lead singer, Sam Forrest here
