Days In December + Fivemiledrive + Psyattica + Set In Tears - Messclean @ The Frog On The Front, Portsmouth. 18/11/05.

Tonight is a bit of an emo cum post hardcore night at The Frog so I'm surrounded by plenty of 'scene' types, pretty boys and girls with too much time to spend on their hair and Phil Oakey gone wrong fringes whilst I seem to be the only one who understands the function of a belt and prefer not to show off my underwear to whomever may have the misfortune of standing behind me; but hey, I'm an oldie and they probably think I'm the father of someone lurking around in the background!

Set In Tears have already taken to the stage by the time I arrive and I'm met by some molten slabs of intensity that combine delicate melodies offset by crushing grooves and blastbeats while vocals are half growled, half screeched. They are an energetic bunch and whilst all this emo/post/melodic hardcore isn't my exact cup of tea I can appreciate that Set In Tears are a fine band within this particular genre and they get the evening off to a flying start.

Next up are Psyattica whom I witnessed playing at the slightly larger Wedgewood Rooms a few weeks back and while they played well left me a bit cold but tonight, up close and personal I quite enjoyed them. It has to be said that they look far too young to have crafted such a fine set of rock tunes and age should see them turn into heavyweight contenders. Of all the bands tonight one can see this fresh faced band having the biggest impact as they write modern classic rock tunes with big hooks and are unafraid to stick in a few soaring guitar solos. As the set progresses they loosen up and really hit their stride coming over as confident but down to earth types and they certainly win the crowd over.

Fivemiledrive sound better on a small stage when the sound is dirty, raw and in your face. Once again we are in emo/melodic hardcore territory but they do it very well and have developed quite a following around these parts. Musically it's jarring riffs fighting it out with huge waves of melodic guitar work over fast beats; the voice still irritates me as do most vocalists within this type of music as they always sound whiney...I suppose I'm just more of a fan of your Lemmy type guttural growl but that is just personal taste as Fivemiledrive are very popular and despite a few sound problems deliver a confident and well received set.

Looking over on Days In December website it would appear that they have been picking up some decent support slots so perhaps gigs like these will become a thing of the past for them soon and their stage craft certainly reflects their experience of bigger shows. They work it like professionals engaging the energetic crowd from the start who all seem to know the songs and words and remain mobile throughout the set. Their particular flavour of emo/hardcore has a harder edge which makes the sound a little more direct and could see them appeal to a more metal crowd as well as the emo kids. This is a band who know where they want to be and who they want to be as they deliver a spot on set of blistering tunes that has The Frog rocking to it's very foundations.