Finally! After a few false starts and postponements due to hospital issues (my own hernia repair, and Seafood singer David Line's own hospitalisation due to lung problems), we finally get to see Seafood again; this time for the 20th time, some 2 years and one personnel change after the last time out, at the so-called "Essential Festival" in Bristol in 2002! So Rachel and I bopped along, getting to the venue at 8.30, surprised to find this sold-out show was being held downstairs! Why not move it to the larger upstairs room? Mad!
Distophia were kicking up a noisy, not unpleasant but not noticeably good either racket onstage, however Rach and I had other plans. Having found free A3 posters on the merch stand, we hunted down the Seafood band members and got them to sign one in honour of our 20th Seafood gig! Whilst doing so, I also got to swap hospital stories and compare rather fresh and grisly scars with vocalist David!
Moved back a little - my tummy's still not repaired enough for a Seafood mosh - for their entrance at 9.30. Starting, oddly, with "In This Light", the moody, slow-burn number sung by drummer Caroline which ultimately erupted into a cacophonous yet controlled climax, they were thereafter never short of superb. "Summer Falls", a breathless newie, followed, before a brilliant "Western Battle", David wisely already being economical with the screams so as to not overstress his lung. The new 'Food material seemed slower, more considered, perhaps even more "mature", yet of no less quality, and the subsequent "As The Cry Flows" album should elevate their profile in a similar way that "The Remote Part" did for Idlewild, if there's any justice. My favourite of the new material, "Sleepover", the spooky bassline a feature, preceded another newie "No Sense Of Home", a ballad dedicated to, "anyone who's been in hospital for a couple of months." Hey, I know that feeling...
"Good Reason", the single and most Seafood-esque of the new material, a real high-tempo romper-stomper, was followed by "Cloaking" then the inevitable closer "Porchlight". This is what we'd missed, an evening with da 'Food to alleviate our jaded attitude towards the state of rock'n'roll today.
No set list, but the full set was;
IN THIS LIGHT, SUMMER FALLS, WESTERN BATTLE, GUNTRIP, HEAT WALKS AGAINST ME, PLEASUREHEAD, KICK IN THE WALLS, SLEEPOVER, NO SENSE OF HOME, SPLINTER, GOOD REASON, CLOAKING, PORCHLIGHT
Quick congrats with bassist Kevin before we left, satisfied. The best band in Britain are back to reclaim their rightful place. It's about time!
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