Bristol - Exchange, 16 March 2014

The shoebox that is the Bristol Exchange was, in a word, heaving. Tonight’s show was sold out, and this made a rush hour tube train look roomy but hopefully it would all be worth it.

Openers Buffalo Summer are another U.K. band (Swansea, to be precise) who play gritty “Suvvern” Rock, much like The Answer or BlackWolf, despite having been nowhere near the Mississippi. Their debut album has been well received, and deservedly so, but it’s the new songs that catch my interest. The likes of ‘Over Rated’, ‘Bird On A Wire’ and ‘Money’ showed a genuine progression in songwriting, and it doesn’t hurt that they were delivered with such passion. Vocalist Andrew Hunt has an extremely powerful voice, and by the crowd’s reaction it’s obviously not just me that enjoyed their short set. I, for one, am looking forward to hearing what they come up with on album number two.

The volume goes up a bit as Scorpion Child took to the stage, with latecomers making the room more packed than a Cardiff taxi rank after kicking out time. The tour has been dubbed ‘Lords Of The Riff’ (with SC and Monster Truck taking turns headlining), and as the band started to play, it became obvious why. Appropriately enough for a Texan band their music is rich and beefy, although they’re not afraid to slow things down (such as in the atmospheric mid section to ‘Salvation Slave’) which gives them a bit of a Led Zeppelin vibe, as does closing track ,‘She Sings, I Kill’. Loud as hell and fiery to boot, SC took the room by the scruff of the neck and shook it until it screamed for mercy.

For the first show of the tour, Canadians Monster Truck have drawn the headline spot, but judging by the crowd response and t-shirt distribution they were the most popular band there. Their no nonsense style and catchy hooks are hard to dislike, and where SC tried and weaved a bit of nuance and atmosphere, MT just say “bollocks” and go for it. Used to playing to larger audiences back home in Ontario, they certainly embraced the U.K., partly because we were informed that it was absolutely freezing in Canada at this time. Having such a fun, bar room vibe band on last really energized the sweaty masses, and it never hurts to have an organ set on “Hammond” either. Vocalist Jon Harvey had a bit of trouble getting his mic turned up high enough but it sounded fine, whilst guitarist Jeremy Widerman did most of the talking, using the word “awesome” and smiling a lot. “You guys are watching the show with your eyeballs, not your cell phones!” he says, before informing us that this is an awesome thing. They went down extremely well, especially ‘Sweet Mountain River’ which had plenty of people singing along. Big riffs, catchy tunes and beards ensured that the fifty minute set flew by, with Monster Truck emerging as the clear winners.

Alan Holloway