O2 Academy
7 December
£18.50
There was a time not so many years ago when it seemed that rock might be in a state of terminal decline, in the days of wall-to-wall Coldplay, Keane, and Cowell and co’s manufactured X-Factor pop. BRMC are one of the bands who restored the faith of many a distraught music-lover and helped to bring a bit of balance back to the musical landscape, definitively answering the question “Whatever Happened to my Rock ‘n’ Roll”.
Their heady blend of heavy, hard-rock riffing and thunderous rhythms, combined with lighter, folkish moments and psychedelic washes, with constant overtones of doom and damnation, blasted through the prevailing conditions like a blaze in a fireworks factory.
OK, so they might not do anything particularly new or ground-breaking, and the cynics may carp that they’ve heard it all before, but they provide exactly what any self-respecting, dyed-in-the-wool rocker is after.
And now they’re back in the UK, after touring earlier in the year to promote their latest album, Beat the Devil’s Tattoo. (Coming soon is the DVD of their sell-out show at London’s Kentish Forum.) But this time around you can expect more of a greatest-hits show as they build up to their 1000th gig, at Brixton Academy on the 11th.
So make sure you’re in top moshing form, get your big boots on ready for a good stomp, and don’t be surprised if you wake up the next day with ringing ears and a sore neck. WL
Area Culture Guide 