Gibraltans come and impress and dismay in equal measures
It's safe to say when Breed 77 come on, at least some of the crowd are happy to see them and indeed they look happy to be there too. Launching into a ferocious version of 'Individuo' that mixes classic metal with Spanish influences, they give it their all in a fast and furious rendition and surprisingly it inspires moshing. Singer, Paul, is having the time of his life and declares "We're so happy to be back in London, we've been writing the new album" gleefully.
'80 Words' suckers you in with a slow and mystical start that belies how good these guys are when they're on fire and ends with what can only be described as Satana metal soloing. It's surprising sometimes how well the Spanish style and metal go together. If '80 Words' is a quieter moment, 'World on Fire' is even more so and is something that 'Nothing Else Matters'-era Metallica would be proud of. Live, it's one of the best songs of the set, if only more people got into it. Sadly, they get a cheer when Paul cries "Special thanks to my brothers, Ill Nino. Thanks for the support."
It's not long before things pick up again though, with a few select crowd pleasers injecting plenty of atmospherics back in. It kicks off with 'The River' and sure enough it gets at least half the crowd going. If that hadn't worked its magic, the next one sure as hell does the trick as we actually see crowd surfers - it seems people are responding to Paul's cry of "I wanna see some flying, I wanna see some action, it's a Friday night after all."
After some strange football-like chanting, we're asked "Do you want to be guinea pigs for this new song we're written?". There's really only one answer even though we're not ready for the punk metal that follows. It's crazy and manic and goes down extremely well.
Even if some Ill Nino fans are not impressed, Breed 77 go out on a high - "Thank you and goodnight, we're back!"