Engerica

Tonight, a multinational line-up that sees not a single American band grace the stage performs at yet another sold-out night at London’s Astoria.

First up are Canadian newcomers Art Of Dying, who play a half-hour of plodding MOR rock that doesn’t really go anywhere in particular.

While they may cite influences including A Perfect Circle and Pearl Jam, they hardly come across as anything quite so spectacular. Following the well-trodden grunge-rock path mastered by Nickelback, the quartet focuses on making simple music for daytime radio. They don’t quite fit together onstage but they’re obviously hoping that one day they'll be playing stages so far away from their fans that nobody will notice.

More interestingly, it’s Engerica’s (pictured) last-ever London show. Despite seemingly being on the cusp of something or other, the Essex trio have decided to call it a day after over six years of churning out some occasionally great rock songs. Dressed like something out of an old Tim Burton flick, snotty vocalist David Gardner is the figurehead for the band. Stomping and strutting around in his black patent-leather boots, you can see that this final tour has not seen the band giving their fans a riotous farewell.

While the tunes are fantastic and the energy from Michael Webster on bass and drummer Neil-Ross Gregory is electrifying, it’s easy to spot a major reason why they’ve never really risen to the heights their music has always demanded: it’s so very difficult to take them seriously. Gardner places a ridiculously overblown American accent onto his vocals and twists and gurns his face at every opportunity. Either despite or because of this, Engerica have been a fantastic band and an asset to their fans and their farewell show at Southend Chinnery’s later this month will, without a doubt, be an amazing send off to a marvellous band.

Communications to South Africa must be down because the message that grunge is well and truly dead hasn’t quite reached Seether. The three-piece make an absolutely massive sound and Shaun Morgan’s voice is an uncanny amalgam of his heroes Staley and Cobain, but it soon becomes very, _very _tiresome. You’ve heard every note, chord change and clichéd chorus line in here, and while that may be comforting for what is clearly a great deal of people across the world, I want more from music. Seether won't ever provide that.