Beginnings of a good career
Black Tide's Download performance puts them in good stead for Leeds this year. The Festival Republic stage is just about right for them this time around. It's not too big but there's a good sound and just about the right crowd. It's not jam packed but there's enough support for the band here to to feel proud.
Walking in to the Beetlejuice soundtrack, Black Tide open up with a half clean, half distorted power riff that reminds me somewhat of Megadeth. Black Tide are quite power metal in style; the long hair, manic bassist and pointy BC Rich guitars all lend well to this image. Thankfully, the vocals are quite clean and discernible. The backing vocal mix is a little weak unfortunately, but throughout the set, this clears up somewhat. "Shockwave" goes down well with the crowd. The scream-y vocals are helping to fill up the tent.
Their new song "Black Abyss" is aired live for the first time here at Leeds and it has a nice, groovy, almost sleazy edge to it which feels great although the harder edge is somewhat lost. The Set is very tight with no real hiccups or bad sound anywhere. There's plenty of chanting and "oooh ooooh OOOhs" from the crowd as "Warriors in Time" hits the speakers. The band close out to "Light from Above", finishing the set off nicely.