With only a handful of gigs to go at Hustlers that I'd organised as Dead Earnest, before I quit the gig promotion side of things for good as Dead Earnest, I had lost heart - noone was coming to ther gigs, I was letting the bands down as a result, and feeling that the end couldn't come soon enough. A couple of bands also on this bill tonight didn't exactly set me on fire - well, one was dull as dishwater, the other pretty decent - but by the time we'd given up doing the door with about 15 people in the building, I did once more begin to wonder why I was putting myself through this.
Then, along came Any Colour Black - and I knew once more why I did all this!!
For this duo, on this night, were the best band in creation - and taken outside of my mood, they weren't, in reality, that far off, either.
Just two people - Louise on vocals and electric guitar, Andy on electric guitar - but the sound and songs that emanate from this band are positively seismic. The opening number started with just Louise on guitar and vocals, set to a programmed rhythmic backdrop of mighty proportions - something that continued throughout - which immediately had the hairs standing up on ther back of your neck as that soaring vocal glided over the intensity of the guitar, before Andy joined the fray and this twin guitar wall of sound erupted from the PA. From there, the second song was introduced via thunderous indie-dance beats as 2 churning guitars flared up with a dynamic arrangement to the song which was absolutely crucial to its success, with a hi-flying vocal full of tension, purity, angst and anger.
The third song opened with fierce guitar riffs over booming electronically programmed drums as the lone vocal soared over a cataclysmic backing, the lead guitar cutting through with choppy chords as the searing second guitar erupts and this massive drving beat accompanies the sound that's now dropped back a notch to allow the vocals to cruise, the guitars to ring out before the whole thing explodes once again. Song four featured a slower introduction with a choppier, more percussive rhythm, as a crooning vocal oozes dark emotion. The rhythms rise then fall as the guitar cuts a deep groove at the bottom of the mix, before slowly cutting through and blazing a trail upwards, lone guitar and beats firing shots in carefully targeted directions, the second guitar providing extra depth and solidarity. The fifth song starts with a ballad-styled intro complete with husky vocal and deep bass-like guitar, before a drum beat kicks in as the vocal tension builds, still maintaining the ballad-esque feel to the song. The whole thing builds and strengthens but rather than erupting, eventually ends as it began. The final song featured scorching guitars at the beginning as fast, choppy rhythms kicked in over an impassioned vocal and thew whole thing burned from start to finish. This was an awesome set from a band on fire and something that oozed perfection from every pore, wild, agressive, tender, solid, dynamic and loud, songs of addictive quality, playing of massive intensity, a band that could do no wrong and just have to be seen - and heard - to be believed.