The Beliel Project + support, Barfly (Glasgow) 18/5/04

I do stay in some nights, honest existence expired

After one of the best reverse parks ever seen in a car without power steering, i got to the Fly just in time to catch Three Days Born. This was the strangest arrangement of a gig ever- you saw one band upstairs, then were ushered downstairs just in time for the next band to start. The guys upstrairs got buggered by a shit sound but what do expect with a stage reminiscent of Phoenix Nights (shite lights in all). Anyway, Three Days Born. Previously a metal band, they seem to have undergone some sort of facelift, as what we got was some heavy indie-rock, reminding us of early Idlewild and Sonic Youth. Generally, they were very good at making one mother of a racket. They're talented guys, but seem to lack the direction or the songs at present to make much of an impact to an impartial audience. An entertaining live band, but i'm unsure of what the recorded output would sound like.

Downstairs, Chris Gorman was playing some utterly jaw-dropping material. Accomponied only by a guitarist (whose playing was very subtle throughout), Gorman switched between acoustic guitar and piano effortlessly. Reminding you of decent Coldplay, extremely decent Starsailor and an unbelievably decent David Sneddon (too far?), he is definately one talented chap. Unlike many solo artists whose lack of diversity allows the mind to wander mid-set, Gorman keeps us fixed to the stage throughout with songs that make you stare and think 'i wish i was that good' to yourself. And the voice. Chris Gorman has the best voice i have ever heard in my life. Quiet falsetto to balls-out screams, this guy's sense of dynamics has to be seen to be believed. Watch out for this guy- he could well make it if he's seen by the right people.

Moving swiftly upstairs (this was getting quite annoying), UGS grunge-metal favourites Daedalian are ready to go and blast straight into 'Holocaust', which is a 7-minute monster incorporating about 10 riffs, and the word 'masterpiece' wouldn't be too far off the mark. Seeing this band go from alright band to good band to great band to amazing band has been one of the most remarkable and amazing transformations to witness first hand, and as they blast threw the new stuff, the energy and excellent musicianship from all 4 musicians is something to be admired. Notable songs included 'Headfuck', personal favourite 'Map to Nowhere' and the closer 'Existance Expired', and although it sounded strangely similar in places to the Manic's 'Archives of Pain' (not a bad thing), i'll let them away with it because it fucking rocked. An exciting 30 minutes.

And then the Beliel Project. As i type this, i still have a massive grin on my face. There's 6 of them and they look and dress like Cradle of Filth. If this isn't funny enough, the fact that they sound like a cross between Disturbed and Rammstein takes the biscuit. I think it took me fully 5 minutes to wipe the grin off my face. Featuring a backline more akin to Wembley Stadium, these guys made one motherfucker of a racket, and not at all a bad one either. Their keyboardist/sampler did a great job of the atmospherics for a band who obviously are fans of the grandiose, and the sheer aural battering from the amplification still has ringing in my ears. The vocalist was very much a poor man's David Draiman. Well, more a skint beggar's David Draiman, but he did win you over with his dancing and a very committed and enthusiastic performance, and at least his didn't have that fucking electric chair. 60 minutes of complete pounding noise and you came out the venue not only impressed with the professionalism and delivery of TBP, but also the fact you managed to keep a straight fact throughout. Just as well really, their guitarist would've eaten me for breakfast- he was a big lad.

Rosco