Moshing with tumbleweed
Well after this evening's performance they're not going to die smiling. Ok, naff gags aside they were stitched up completely by scheduling. Over in the Main Hall Italian power band 'Brainstorm' had a huge audience and here in the second stage room Died Smiling had ten people. No really, I counted them in disbelief. How did they get scheduled to play at exactly the same time as another band? If you had to choose between two bands you hadn't heard of you'd go to the biggest room too wouldn't you?
Well to all you people who were not only absent from the room but were just hanging around outside and not watching anything at all; you missed out suckers! Died Smiling were excellent and played like they had an audience and I'm sure if one had really been there they'd have been even better. To give him his due Paul Chanter still managed to drum up the motivation to speak to the 'crowd' but I suspect that it was a wry smile on his face rather than one approaching genuine pleasure.
Their music is like John Bush era Anthrax when Anthrax were good and would have made an excellent moshing soundtrack had there been anyone to mosh with, running around on my own wouldn't have been the same some how. They played tight, aggressive post punk metal, they knew what they were doing and the songs flew by like wasted opportunities. You all should have been there to make this a Bloodstock for them to remember because you'd have remembered them. Instead they'll be wondering why they bothered.
By the end of their set the audience had doubled in size to a massive twenty people, they switched off, unplugged and started packing; I'd been treated to a private gig of top quality hardcore metal which included a metal version of Nancy Sinatra's 'Bang Bang' and if they ever come 'up north' I'll check them out again.
You should have been there Bloodstock, you missed out.