LOA Make Their Comeback.
To the uninitiated, Life of Agony could be construed as confusing. They're a band that are, unequivocally, metal. It's a gig packed to the rafters of Mean Fiddler with PVC clad girls and blokes wearing torn band T-Shirts - there is no easy way to tell where A7X fans (playing upstairs in the Astoria) and the LOA fans start and stop - but that's about the only similarity between tonight's two gigs. As Life of Agony front-man Keith Caputo swaggers on stage sporting a rather fetching indie number, you'd be right in thinking that he looks as if he's walked onto the wrong stage.
Starting their set, it has been a long wait for many Life of Agony fans. It's been eight years since their last studio album and it's been an equally long time since the band have been touring in support of a new album. With the band reformed after their 1999 break-up, the crowd make the atmosphere almost palpable and surge towards the stage as Keith, Joey Z (guitar), Alan Robert (bass) and Sal Abruscato (drums) launch in to their twelve year back catalogue of hits.
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They're a band of startling contradictions - with a very emo name, a front-man that looks as if he sings part-time in an indie band and a sound unique to them - they combine the characteristic thrashing of guitars and thumping of bass drums with soaring vocals that lie somewhere between Modest Mouse and Iron Maiden. It's no wonder that Sony's website gets confused and recommends that you may also like to buy a J Lo album.
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As Joey Z plugs the new single with a T-Shirt that reads "Please Public Our New Single" and crowd requests to get Epic to publish it in the UK, the band launch into their new single 'Let You Down', the crowd sing along word for word, embracing the new material as if it were their own - but this is where it stops for new material. They continue to mix new songs with old, the crowd remain inanimate with songs like 'Last Cigarette'. In an attempt to get the crowd out of their polite mindset, who seem to ignore the epic opening to more new material, Keith jumps in to the photo pit and hurls himself in to the waiting hands of fans that each try to grab a part of him for their own. After being felt up by a whole host of hands he pulls back and spends the next two songs dancing in the photo pit with what can best be described as a Saturday morning jiggling pants dance whilst he bends over backwards and twists his body from side to side.
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Forget focussing on the vocals though - the lyrics may be passion filled and Keith's voice carries them well but there's a lot more to Life of Agony than that. Joey Z, Alan and Sal are where the band's true strength lie. Every single beat that Sal hits a drum to is filled with energy and every note picked by Alan or solo played by Joey Z fill the small Mean Fiddler with a depth of sound that three people shouldn't be able to create. Joey's solos need to be taken out and displayed to current metal bands - in an age where monotonous riffs fill every metal CD, it's a joy to hear such fantastically body-searing solos that make you twitch for more as a fan storms the stage to be rugby tackled by security.
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After an hour they return for their encore, with 'Underground'. A topless Keith takes dual vocal duties with Tim Williams. The crowd go crazy, surging towards the barrier as one fan gets past security, jumps on stage and stage dives with a forward summersault back in to the crowd as a member of security simply stares on in wonder.
Life of Agony's new album 'Broken Valley' is out on Monday 30th May and if you've missed them on this tour make sure you don't miss them when next week comes around. If you like music, be prepared to love Life of Agony.
To view all photos taken during this set click here. There are 9 available.