La Dispute + Former Thieves + Shapes @ Rescue Rooms, Nottingham - 1st February 2012
The Rescue Rooms was the venue on Wednesday night for an eclectic selection of bands headlined by American quintet La Dispute.
A good crowd was already in place for the opening band of the evening - Shapes are a trio of noisy experimental musicians from Birmingham who play a mixture of Math-Rock and Punk Rock. Whilst only being 3 people they made more than enough noise, with chaotic and aggressive vocals layered over very technical guitar work. This is a genre of music that the UK is currently leading the way with, and on tonight’s evidence Shapes are certainly one of the bands who are helping to push it to greater heights, with a confident and engaging live show.
Next to stage was Former Thieves, who powered through a loud, intense set - certainly not the sort of music that usually comes out of the fairly rural state of Iowa in the USA. Whilst being classed as hardcore music, there was more than a hint of sludge in the heavy riffs, and this combined with the very methodical drumming added up to a sound which was quite easy to get lost in. This was only punctuated by vocalist Josh Sparks, whose entire contribution consisted of aggressive, urgent screams throughout the set. There might not have been a tremendous variety in the styles of the songs played, but what Former Thieves did, they did very well, and the crowd in attendance was very appreciative at the end of the set.
The room had pretty much filled up by the time Michigan's La Dispute arrived on stage, and they began by playing several tracks from their latest album Wildlife. The crowd response was initially reserved, almost muted, but when the band tapped into their back catalogue with the crowd sprung into life, jumping around and chanting along with every word. Vocalist Jordan Dreyer has a unique vocal style which sits somewhere between shouting and spoken word, and some of the slower sections of the songs felt more like musical poetry. The effect created by a group of dozens of people chanting along was a powerful one, to say the least. During the faster pieces, bassist Adam Vass churned out a tremendous bass rhythm which literally shook the Rescue Rooms balcony, and the guitar work was supported by a precise drumming performance from Brad Vander Lugt. There was no doubt that La Dispute's older work was more well received than the newer tracks, and at little over 45 minutes the set was not the longest, but by the time they closed out with ‘Said The King To The River’, there was no doubt the crowd left satisfied.
