Rumour has it that this gig sold out two days into Fresher's Week. Whether this is true or not, Pendulum are a band on the ascent at the moment and they know it. The swagger of their resident MC, Ben ‘The Verse’ Mount, constantly insisting in forceful tones that the crowd “make some noise” or start a “ring of mayhem” was therefore barely needed to work the Academy into a frenzy. Consequently, he came oddly close to sounding like a particularly hardcore holiday camp rep.
Butlins aside, you know exactly where you stand with a band whose aims are as beautifully simple as Pendulum’s. Hence, this was not a gig where the audience was required to stand around in a semi intellectual manner, nurse a pint of best and comment on how musically aware of each other the group members are. Indeed nursing a pint of best was impossible in an atmosphere that came dangerously close to crushing the front rows of the audience in a swirling mass of jumping bodies.
Even so, the sextet are an incredibly tight outfit. Given their past in Australia’s underground dance and drum ‘n’ bass scene, their musical preciseness has developed into one of their major selling points. Speaking of major selling points, Pendulum’s best riffs have long been more than catchy, and they are truly mighty in the flesh. 'Blood Sugar' with its' angry squawks and apocalyptic intro, is made all the more impressive for the pulsating bass that accompanies. However, not all of these hooks are as memorable, 'Granite' in particular suffers from repetition of the main riff for just slightly too long and becomes almost grating.
There was a sense that the Academy couldn’t quite contain the wall of noise it was being asked to deal with. This created a sense of noise spilling over; of the gig suddenly becoming too much for human consumption at any point. It is almost as if Pendulum have a sound tailor-made for parks and stadiums, not compact indoor venues. It remains to be seen whether they can surpass their status as extremely popular and evolve into the next true super group, whose blend of rock, drum ‘n’ bass and electronica sets the trend for years to come.
Butlins aside, you know exactly where you stand with a band whose aims are as beautifully simple as Pendulum’s. Hence, this was not a gig where the audience was required to stand around in a semi intellectual manner, nurse a pint of best and comment on how musically aware of each other the group members are. Indeed nursing a pint of best was impossible in an atmosphere that came dangerously close to crushing the front rows of the audience in a swirling mass of jumping bodies.
Even so, the sextet are an incredibly tight outfit. Given their past in Australia’s underground dance and drum ‘n’ bass scene, their musical preciseness has developed into one of their major selling points. Speaking of major selling points, Pendulum’s best riffs have long been more than catchy, and they are truly mighty in the flesh. 'Blood Sugar' with its' angry squawks and apocalyptic intro, is made all the more impressive for the pulsating bass that accompanies. However, not all of these hooks are as memorable, 'Granite' in particular suffers from repetition of the main riff for just slightly too long and becomes almost grating.
There was a sense that the Academy couldn’t quite contain the wall of noise it was being asked to deal with. This created a sense of noise spilling over; of the gig suddenly becoming too much for human consumption at any point. It is almost as if Pendulum have a sound tailor-made for parks and stadiums, not compact indoor venues. It remains to be seen whether they can surpass their status as extremely popular and evolve into the next true super group, whose blend of rock, drum ‘n’ bass and electronica sets the trend for years to come.
Chris Goding
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