...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

It’s almost as if I was at a Slipknot concert…the band enter the stage to a mix of fiercely understated lighting and samples and effects…but Conrad Keely *is far too nice a guy to puke in a jar and throw it at the front row. He greets “_Manchesterrrrr*_” in the way that so many foreign bands like to do. And far, far too many British bands like to do. It is strangely endearing tonight, despite my horrendously cynical attitude toward such phrasing, as Keely seems _genuinely _pleased and excited to be in Manchesterrrrr. As are we, standing mere metres away.

To describe themselves as “just another fag art-rock band” is probably highly accurate but the addition of the words ‘really’ and ‘loud’ may also be quite apt. While demonstrating frequently their art-rock they deliver an extraordinary sense of volume, in a way that depresses your eardrums somewhat. It has been said to me that volume does not equal quality. But what if the volume is merely *power *relayed as volume? Ah it must be. All I feel here is power; all I feel around me is power. I can feel it in the sound emitted from the turgid black PA system; I can feel it in the *frenetic *movement of previously innocent onlookers. The air of expectance is legendary…it feels like something more than legendary…something mythical.

An intensity sweeps over you as …Trail of Dead *reel off non-hit after non-hit to the near capacity-filled venue. How is it possible to describe such a band as under-rated with such a lively and *loving *crowd assembled before it? They’re not playing the arena down the road is why. But could they ever play the arena and be *happy? They signed to the major didn’t they? But could Jason Reece enter the frenzied crowd on two occasions in an arena, as he did here tonight? I doubt the insurance would cover such an act. Could Conrad Keely be pulled into the crowd, *guitar *in hand, at the arena? I doubt he would even dare get so close. Could *Reece *climb the speaker stack to stage right? Could that mentalist fan evade the inevitably oppressive security guards to mount said speaker stack only to be _congratulated _by Keely? Would there _ever _be the chance? You know the answer.

The disappointing show put on at Reading’s main stage last August *is long, long forgotten as they performed possibly one of their most memorable shows in England to date. With their showmanship extending to the limit with three guitars and no bass frequenting the stage and Keely and Reece swapping *sticks *for a *pick *seemingly at will, members of *Kinesis/DrownedInSound screaming calculated obscenities to a thousand strangers from the pit…

‘Metal & Hardcore’? HMV should have invested in a *Fag Art-Rock *section instead.