This is rock, bitch!
It's fourteen years since Body Count released their first album and ten years since I failed to see them at the Distortion Festival in Brighton due to watching Crewe Alex beat Brentford in the play off final at Wembley on the same day! In the ten years since both Body Count and Crewe have delighted me and disappointed me in almost equal measure. I'm approaching their set with some trepidation, I really want it to be great but with this band you're just never sure what you're going to get, it could be glorious or a complete disaster!
They begin with a short cover of the song 'Black Sabbath', which is backed by red and blue lights and a wailing police siren. There is a great roar from the crowd as Ice-T takes the stage wearing a Michael Myers mask as the band go into an elongated version of 'Body Count's in the House'. The sound is excellent early on but as they give the crowd a taster of the new material with 'Murder 4 Hire' the hardcore parts degenerate into a wall of noise. It's been a slow start but things start to pick up with 'Killin' Floor' and some great stage banter from Ice-T; "Main stage is always meant for pussies, we should all go over there and beat the shit out of everyone at the main stage!". It's predictable I guess but everyone's laughing and from here on in the performance really kicks off.
'Body Count' from the first album is great and finally shows those in the crowd that haven't heard the band before just how good they can be. 'KKK Bitch' follows and the band are really starting to flow, Ernie C is outstanding on lead guitar and pulls off a succession of great solos. There isn't much left out of the set, pretty much everything you'd want to hear gets aired from 'Drive By' and 'There Goes the Neighbourhood' (during which Drummer O.T produces a great drum solo) to 'Evil Dick' and the still controversial 'Cop Killer'.
They finish off with a cover of 'Hey Joe', first heard on their second album, during which Ice-T's son joins the band on stage. After a slow opening Body Count really produced and you have to give them credit for still being around after all the tragedies that have befallen the band over the years.