Pedigree. That’s the first thing that comes to mind tonight. Back in the day there used to be an occasional item in Sounds magazine, or sometimes Kerrang, that later became both a tv series and a book. It was called Rock Family Trees, and essentially it managed to trace links between rock bands of all sizes and statures in a giant spiderweb of connections and surprising bandmates. These were then presented in an easy-to-understand format that made sense and was often interesting and fascinating at the same time. In a way, that’s kind of why I’m here tonight. Can you imagine a link between tonight’s headliners The Cruel Knives and Led Zeppelin for example? No? Read on, all will be revealed! 

First though we have supports to analyse. I have no idea if they are linked to other bands as I know little about either of them so can only comment on how they came across on the night. We started with Fate’s Hollow, a competent if slightly nervous outfit with an eclectic sound and, apparently, a concept album in the offing. Influences seem to range from the Foo Fighters to reggae, and they may not be quite ready to set the world on fire yet but they have certainly warmed up the temperature in the room by a couple of degrees.  

In contrast, Crashface are not subtle or nervous. Instead they are brash, loud and lairy. They mix rap with rock, played over a load of samples that pull everything together. The lyrics are neither sung nor spoken, instead they are spat. There’s not much banter between songs, but the crowd form a pit and some good-natured shoving ensues. At first they are puzzling, but gradually their enthusiasm becomes infectious, and even those of us on the periphery are nodding along in approval. 

Headliners The Cruel Knives are a band that have been on my personal radar for some time due to the connections mentioned above. Shall we trace the line from Led Zeppelin? OK, Led Zep’s drummer John Bonham had a son Jason who used to be in a band called Airrace. Another member of that band was Laurie Mansworth, who later went on to manage a band called Hurricane Party, later to become Roadstar. After parting ways with Laurie some of the members of Roadstar formed a band called Heavens Basement, which featured Sid Glover on guitars and Rob Ellershaw on bass. Both of those gents were eventually joined by drummer Al Junior and singer Tom Harris in The Cruel Knives, and here we are now in Manchester mingling with several of their ex band  members who have come to support.  

That’s all very well you cry, but who are they? What do they do? Well they play rock. Hard rock. It’s crisp and clean, with great vocals, sharp guitar and a pounding beat. There are time-changes galore and just enough melody to pierce my AOR-tinged heart to the core. The song titles are aggressive, ‘Black Eye Friday’, ‘Kill The Messenger’ and ‘Nail Them to The Walls’ are not exactly love songs. Instead they are harsh, uncompromising, angry, but at the same time not so much that you can’t relate to them and enjoy them. There are some cracking instrumental breaks, and the power and energy in the room becomes palpable. Although the crowd is moving, it’s more intense, more deep than just dancing. ‘All Your Heroes Hate You’ sees a rather stunning drum fill and makes a great slogan for a t-shirt as well as providing an immersive clapalong chorus and a slightly brighter, happier tone. They skirt along the edge of metalcore, dipping in the odd toe without ever jumping all the way over the edge. ‘Shotgun To The Head’ takes them to a darker, more gothic sound with an instrumental bridge that brings to mind that band at the other end of the chain of links and their epic track ‘Dazed & Confused’ if it went off on another track and was played by Black Sabbath!  

Final song “Crawl” brings the mood back up and turns out to be an air-punching anthem that is both powerful and moving as it’s dedicated to someone who should have been at the show tonight but sadly passed away very recently. There’s a big instrumental rock-out finish and then the lights are on and the show is over. A very enjoyable evening spent with a very under-rated band, with their pedigree I think Best In Show is definitely within their reach in the future! 

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
The Cruel Knives, Crashface, Fate’s Hollow