And So I Watch You From Afar - Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff - November 24th 2010 (Live Review)
Monday, 29 November 2010
Written by Rhys Morgan
If, for some reason, you want the skin ripped from your skull or you want your internal organs to spontaneously explode I would fully recommend seeing And So I Watch You From Afar live to fulfil your rather obscure fetish! These guys may not have any lyrics but they have more stage presence than any band I’ve ever experienced live. Running around like headless chickens, getting right into the crowd and pushing each other around like they’re about to start an onstage scrap (all, may I add whilst paying note for note perfectly).
Before hand, pop-punkers Tubelord gave their support and seemed to up the game on their riffing in comparison to their recorded tracks. Perhaps this was for all the post-rock fans in attendance, if it was, everyone was hugely grateful as Tubelord were accepted with a lot of smiles.
ASIWYFA took to the stage rather casually for a band that were about to make more noise than that retarded Gillian Mckeith women does when in eye shot of any harmless animal. They smashed through ‘S is for Salamander’ for their opening track with more energy than most bands have during their encores. With no barrier, guitarist Rory Friers, jumped a top the speakers where the hands of everyone in reach grabbed him and had no intention of letting him go.
The third track in was the new single ‘Straight Through The Sun’. The song had only been out for a week or so, but I was damn impressed to see everyone head banging in perfect time which is just as impressive as an entire crowd singing every lyric. The noise grew as the band steam rolled through 'theseRIOTSareJUSTtheBEGINNING' and 'Start A Band'. Then Chris Wee showed just how talented a drummer he is on 'A Little Bit of Solidarity Goes a Long Way'; Every cymbal crash like an explosion in the very core of your brain, every tom strike like a punch to the face, by someone who can punch really fucking hard, and fast too.
When Tony Wright announced 'Eat The City, Eat It Whole' to be the final song you could tell everyone was really going to give it shit, of biblical proportion. The first three minutes of the track went by peacefully enough, but everyone was waiting, waiting to go all Chuck Norris in the pit. The guitar grinded. The snare got smashed. It kicked off. And it was awesome.
The band departed, briefly and by briefly, I mean all of 15 seconds, before returning for their encore. Tony lifted his guitar, hitched it up to his shoulder and fired off a round into the crowd. Everybody knew that 'Set Guitars To Kill' was coming and everybody loved it. The entire mass continued to blur in the pit, but came to a standstill just for everybody to perfectly add the ‘WOOO’ and the midpoint of the song.
And then it was over, seemingly as quickly as it began. And they hadn’t played the one song that I had taken for granted would definitely have been included, 'Don’t Waste Time Doing Things You Hate'. But the band had something to say on that matter. In appreciation of the attendees, ASIWYFA said they’d play one more song which they originally had no intention of playing (and as I managed to swipe a set list, I can confirm that). 'Don’t Waste Time' is to ASIWYFA what 'Like Herod' is to Mogwai. It contains their quietest interludes while also containing there most volcanic crescendos. It’s their only track that contains any substantial vocals, which are provided by a choir. Tonight the crowd became the choir in an explosive sing along. This is their stand out track and tonight it was their gift to the audience.
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Before hand, pop-punkers Tubelord gave their support and seemed to up the game on their riffing in comparison to their recorded tracks. Perhaps this was for all the post-rock fans in attendance, if it was, everyone was hugely grateful as Tubelord were accepted with a lot of smiles.
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