16 Bronsons + Arrowshy + Enochian Theory + Wilf - Messclean @ The Frog On The Front. 20/01/06

Nice packed venue tonight, just the way it should be and with Messclean getting their organized heads on it looks like many more nights will be rammed so onwards and upwards as they say. First up tonight are Wilf, who waver precariously over the divide between commercial appeal and balls out rock, fine vocal melodies twist into pop hooks backed up by a tough mix of rock/punk and indie. Probably a tad too nice and sing along for a metal crowd and too heavy for the indie chin strokers, Wilf non the less deliver a highly pleasing set of tunes that would appeal to those that like mainstream acts such as Green Day and Feeder.

Enochian Theory are a wonder to behold, atmospheric progressive metal epics that trip out on extended journeys to another world, crescendi building and falling over into death metal grunts before giving way to gentle flows and ebbing keyboards. Highly intelligent music that comes over as one extended soundtrack is how it feels tonight with plenty of unexpected time changes and the fine vocal prowess of Ben Hayes a particular highlight in that he must be one of the finest rock warblers in the area with an ability to sing like an angel before releasing some kind of demonic possessed type belch. I'm not sure that the whole audience enjoyed it quite as much as me, those after a quick fix of energy would have been left wilting but those with a bent for artistic rock, Tool spring to mind, would have been as entranced as me.

With a vocalist stripped to the waist ready for action and a gaggle of girls at the front, Arrowshy hit the stage with their accessible modern metal pulling at the ends of emo shirt tails and giving them a good kicking. They are a band that know how to build a tune and charge the atmosphere, harsh blast beats collapsing under memorable choruses that invoke the crowd to sing along; a crowd made up of emo looking kids, metallers and trendy types more normally seen down the bars in Guildhall Walk with their nice shoes and distressed jeans but it shows the crossover appeal that Arrowshy have with their commercial edge. They go down well and are probably the band who get most attention tonight.

16 Bronsons are probably one of the reasons why Vanity Project exists, in that mainman Skif ran a small Pompey based record label called Elastic Fiction (go contact him via the website as I think he still has some tapes and compilation albums under his bed that he wants to dish out!) and put a couple of 16 Bronsons CDs out and did indeed manage them for a while before they went their separate ways. But now they are back a little older, probably a little wiser and possibly a bit more sober judging from the tales I have heard! The Bronsons are good old fashioned lout rock, foot to the floor rock n roll mainlined with punk adrenalin, drums clatter away while the bass pounds, keeping the ragged guitars in check while they deliver cracking tunes through the debris. Afterwards people were saying it's like they had never been away and all that was lacking was a drunken Skif and sidekick Leon dancing down the front and while that would have been a fine sight to behold it was pleasing enough to see a band cutting through the crap and delivering music just the way it should be done, upfront and down your throat washed down with a gallon of beer.