Centralscene review of dunblane festival 5th march

heres the centralscene review by ali

"First band I saw was Dogmatah, they played a tight set and you have to say their songs are starting to mature and were getting a good crowd reaction. They also had a fairly decent pit going during their set with bodies flying about. Martin and Paul were doing a good job in the engine room and James was going nuts on the guitar. Dogmatah are becoming a really tight band these days, I think back to when I first saw them probably a year and a half ago, they were ok but were still trying to find their direction, seeing them on Saturday, they have obviously been putting the hours in. Only thing I would say is they need to stop the fannying about during their set and concentrate on getting the numbers out.

I have to say it was a pretty good turnout on the night, I don't know how many people were actually there but it must have been well over 100.

Next up were Benign Myth, I was interested to see them because I have heard good things about them and of course they are playing on the 19th. Wasn't disapointed, they played a fast punchy set and really got the crowd going, more bodies flying about. Was also impressed because at the start of one of their songs someone was out of tune, rather than carry on regardless, they stopped got it sorted and then really went for it with the song, a bit of experience there because there is nothing worse than seeing musicians squirming through their own songs with griited teeth trying to get it over with. They also slipped in a cover of "Killing in the Name" which was pretty good but to be honest I preferred their own material.

Now we move on to Hatch , Hatch had a howler, firstly they were all absolutely plastered so you knew what was coming up next. Burny was arguing with his amp and the rest of the band were just trying to stay standing. They went through their set but it was pretty bad and ended up just about clearing the room, which was really annoying because they have some decent songs but the songs didn't stand a chance sadly. The last of the diehards who were still trying to go for it cleared off because there was some ear popping feedback that was probably the right frequency to start your brain bleeding. Do yourself a favour next time lads and show folk how well you can really play.

Onto the out of town bands, Hot Mangu are from Aberdeen, they are the purveyors of Splat Metal and from what I could see as well as talented, they are a hard working band who have a fair bit of fun while playing. Some nice wee party pieces on the guitar also and some pumpin bass lines. They rocked through their set and again there were bodies flying in all directions. There was a ferocity and edge to some of their songs and they really know how to get the crowd going and how to work the crowd into a frenzy. I meant to have a word with Rico because we have swapped emails in the past and it's good to put a face to the name but he was too busy selling their CD ( not surprisingly ) so maybe next time but I'm sure there will be a next time as they are an excellent band and will be back down this way, when they do you have to check them out.

Headliners on the night, Zeroscape from Canada, nice bunch of guys, they ended up with their set cut a wee bit short because of things running a bit late but they showed respect to the folks running the place and just got on with it. From the word go they got the crowd going and really know how to work a crowd as well. Their music was about as tight as you can get it and there was soon a pit going in front of the band, although there was a few surprised faces when Rob jumped off stage into the middle of them and went for it with the crowd, they were having as much fun as the crowd, as were most of the bands on the night. The vocal ranges of the band were also pretty good from low melodies to screaming mayhem. You can see why this band have a deal back home in Canada and they definately entertained the crowd right up to the end. Think they are heading down south after this gig but they promise to be back in Scotland later this year, if you get the chance check them out."