GiggingNI.com

Cancer Bats

With Rolo Tomassi;

With night falling onto the city streets of Belfast, the anticipation was starting to rise for the show that was sure to rock the core of the country's captial. Despite In Flames cancelling their UK tour previously, Cancer Bats remained on Ticketmasters sites all around Ireland - but not to support In Flames - the Bats were back to headline! You may or may not have heard the news of Rolo Tomassi, Sheffields own experimental metalheads, playing on the same night as the Cancer Bats but at a different venue - well Liam Cormier, frontman of Cancer Bats, was having none of that. He didn't want to miss out on the Tomassi show so they called up the Sheffield folk to do a co-headline which they gladly accepted! And what a show it was! Spring and Airbrake was starting to fill more and more and as the crowd gathered behind the barrier, Rolo Tomassi appeared on stage - however their entrance, suspense-building background music with bright yellow lights coming from the backdrop, seemed more appropriate for a band like Queen or Metallica as they gathered together side-by-side with their back to the audience waiting for the screams and cheers prior to even playing a show - they didn't get many. Once the band opened, there was a split in a room. It was hard to know what to expect when four guys and a girl came out on stage - but experimental screamo metal certainly wasn't it - especially with Eva Spence, Rolo Tomassi female vocalist, belting out the roars to a crowd which they were starting to win over. After some impressive versions of "Beatrotter" and "Film Noir", Rolo Tomassi finished their set with their newest single, "I Love Turblence" which I believed won over some fans. Rolo Tomassi are certainly a unique act, they're music is tight and there a name you should look out for in the future. An hour before midnight, drums were set, smoke started to pump from the smoke machines - it was time. Jaye Schwarzer and Mike Peters, bassist and drummer of Cancer Bats respectively, appeared on stage first to a sound of applause followed by Scott, guitarist and frontman Liam! Rolo Tomassi may have rocked out beforehand but the Spring and Airbrake was about to experience the Cancer Bats. As soon as the first song began, the crowd was jumping up and down manically and soon saw our first moshpit of the night, as short as it may have been due to the security intervening, but our first one and certainly not the last. It was evident that The Bats frontman Liam was loving every minute of it running across the stage, jumping into the crowd, frantically belching out screams and yells to a grateful audience who's night was about to get better when songs like "Pneumonia Hawk" and "Sorceress" was played. Moshpits were evident in several places, everyone was headbanging and loving every second of it including Jaye and Scott who were seen smiling clearly loving the fact that the Belfast audience were loving it! Liam also showed his appreciation for the Belfast audience, "We travelled 500 miles from Brighton all the way over to Ireland and it was worth every fucking minute of it!", before they performed amazing versions of "Hail Destroyer", "Deathsmarch" and "Lucifier's Rocking Chair" before wrapping it up! It was fantastic to know, and feel, that Belfast really was a place they wanted to come when they said when In Flames cancelled and they were preparing their tour, Belfast was a "place we didn't want to miss". One thing is certain; everyone that has there that night headbanged a little - even if they didn't want to. The Cancer Bats just have a presence onstage that is indescribable - with raging riffs, gut-wrenching vocals and sheer brute force, Cancer Bats is a name you never will forget!