The Industrial Revolution
Industrial, EBM, Darkwave, Synthpop, Futurepop, and all that good stuff for Birmingham and the West Midlands.
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Alan Colson
Alan's trip to Infest 2010
This was my first Infest, so I have no comment on the new venue and layout, however as a n00b, I can agree with the people saying that the stairs to the main venue being right next to the stage and bar was fucking silly. Unless you got in early, it was a fight to get to wherever you wanted to go.
That said, I really enjoyed myself. I didn't know many people there, but I met quite a lot, and made a few new friends too. Hopefully I'll see some more of them at Club Tron (Eddie's Rock Club, Gough St, Birmingham, every last Friday of the month), and/or Zombie (The Sound Bar, Corporation St, Birmingham, every first Friday of the month).
So on to the bands:
Friday
Mandro1d
Never heard of them before, they are a British act, basically there to have fun, be topical (they did a song about the EDL for example) and be very very silly. Heroine, Sausages, & Bumsex was being chanted by several people over the course of the night. Can't say I'll be looking out for them, buying (or pirating) any of their stuff though.
Heimstatt Yipotash
I quite liked this duo. It was basically a DJ set of their own material, however it was good stuff. Reminded me a lot of Tarmvred, bordering on noize in places, very hard beats though which was good for a Friday night.
De/Vision
I really like De/Vision, a lot of people at Infest didn't think much of them though. It was a flawless performance, good choice of songs, but admittedly slow for the headline act on a Friday night. Perhaps they should have been in another slot, but for me personally, I enjoyed it.
Saturday
Northern Kind
OK, I was really hungover from Friday night, the bar closed at 2:30am, lots of us were outside until about 3, and then it turns out that the block of the student halls I was in had somehow become party central with insane amounts of people carrying on the drinking, talking, and loud music until at least 5am. I went to bed at about 4:30, and although I was up and out at 11, I had to head back for a recovery session from about 2-4ish, so Northern Kind were already finished before I got back. Many people said they were excellent though.
Memmaker
Another mainly DJ set, they were OK, nothing stood out for me, so I wandered around the market, and drank a few pints in the bar. I'm sure if I had been more awake (or more wasted) I would have enjoyed them more, but it all seemed a bit cliched.
Agonoize
Already liked these guys, similar in sound to Amduscia (RIP Edgar Acevedo), and with a harshness like Hocico, I was already prepared to have my ears blasted. They didn't disappoint! After the first few minutes Chris L opened his coat to reveal a rather large strapon dildo which he masturbated until he shot a rather large load of white goo over the crowd. Some laughed, some were almost in tears, some even left.
Over the next songs he proceeded to cover himself in fake blood, and used blood packs to explode on his head when he battered himself with the microphone. Later on when he slashed his throat, and wrist with a huge kitchen knife, he covered the crowd in fake blood too. Although the reaction wasn't as bad as before, it was damn funny watching the people all surge back as one.
Several people said it was a bit over the top, and silly, but it was a fun performance, and good throbbing music.
[x]-Rx
I have a few of their tracks, and while I like them (Stage 2 in particular), I failed to see how they would fill up the hour with a live set. Was it going to be just another DJ duo set like Heimstatt Yipotash and Memmaker? Yes, although one of them did fuck all except jump around a lot, and randomly shout some of the lyrics (which on the album tracks are mainly computer generated voices anyway). Was seriously unimpressed with them live. I obviously need to do drugs though, as many people thought they were amazing. I overheard several women say they had gone off with one of them after the gig too. Now either those two had an orgy after, or some were just wishful thinking. Who knows!
Rotersand
Wow. Fucking amazing! These guys were the main reason for deciding to go. I've liked them for ages, and I was blown away by their performance. Originally scheduled for a 1 hour set, they announced they were doing a longer one during the gig, and it was almost 2 hours in the end. They played all the crowd pleasers, some premiers of remixes soon to be released, and some of the newer tracks from Random Is Resistance.
Rascal actually left the stage and went for a wander through the crowd while singing at one point too, handing (and throwing) Rotersand TANZKONTROLLE stickers to people. It was a pretty special moment. The encore comprised of several songs ending with Exterminate, Annihilate, Destroy to which the crowd went absolutely mental.
They are playing Sheffield on December the 11th, and I will most definitely be going to see them again there!
Sunday
Parralox
They were supposed to be playing on Saturday, but Amii had been taken to hospital for a chest infection, so were rescheduled for Sunday afternoon. They had a catalogue of disasters in coming to Infest, it's all on their Facebook page, so we were lucky they played at all! Being the first act on a Sunday at 3pm wasn't the best slot, and as it had been reduced to a mere 30 minutes, I imagine many people didn't turn up for them so it was a little empty in the venue, but they did a damn good job.
Amii looked and sounded great despite her health, and they played the 2 songs I really liked in a very limited set, so I was very happy. For me it was an excellent and mellow start to the final day of the festival.
Concrete Lung
They say you can't please all of the people all of the time. I think this band was at Infest to prove the rule.
Patenbrigade: Wolff
Another band I didn't know much about before I went. So many different styles to their tracks, it's almost like different bands are playing. It kept me interested all the way through, and apart from one weird song with singing children (which isn't on the CD I bought thank fuck) I really liked everything they played. Good stage shenanigans going on too between the DJs, vocalist, and female singer. A fun band with good music.
Ayria
OK let me just say, I love Jennifer Parkin. I have most of her stuff from Epsilon Minus to Ayria, and even the stuff she did with the Parallel Project. I know lots of people say she's not very good live, and after seeing some YouTube videos, I was prepared for a few flat notes.
She was fantastic! It's rare to see someone pull off the singing, and energetic dancing so well, and she runs around the stage like a kid on a sugar rush with ADHD. The crowd were jumping around high on her enthusiasm throughout the whole set which was a sight to behold for an act I had heard so many people previously dismissing as something which would probably be a bit too pop/synth for their liking.
I'd bought the Hearts For Bullets//Planet Parkin CD (along with Parralox) while Concrete Lung were playing, so when she said she was going to hang out with people afterwards that made me happy, so I went on to get the CD signed and have a little chat with her. Got a hug too, so I was a very happy Ayria fan boy.
Nachtmahr
The shameless promotion for Nachtmahr started earlier that afternoon with two attractive ladies dressed in military style uniform walking around handing out little black flags with a white N on them. Within the hour, most people with hair big enough had flags sticking out of it, drinks had them sticking out, and everywhere you looked you could see them invading your field of view.
Now I've seen them live, I realise I had heard several tracks before. I like them a lot, and fuck me they played a loud set. If Rotersand were playing at 10, Nachtmahr went up to 11. I heard several people say Thomas Rainer was a pretentious prick, but hey, when you make music like that, who cares. It's loud, good, and gets people dancing! The rather attractive ladies who stood motionless throughout most of the gig, only moving to come forwards and shoot the crowd with machine gun water pistols was a nice touch too. At least it wasn't blood or cum this time!
Project Pitchfork
I only had the latest album, and while I quite liked it, I hadn't realised how fucking amazing some of their earlier material was. I'm definitely going to buy Eon:Eon, and Daimonion. There were some hardcore Pitchfork fans up at the front immediately in front of me, and it was incredible to see Peter Spilles taking the time to get touched, hugged, and ruffled by them. Sure, other bands had done it too, but I didn't see as much emotion from the singer. I'd been chatting to him briefly with some new friends just before Nachtmahr played, and he's a really nice guy too. Very interested in what people say, quite funny, and willing to mingle with all kinds of people.
I did leave their set 20 mins or so early as I'd seen Jennifer Parkin wandering around by the bar talking to people, so that was when I went to chat to her and get my CD signed, but I could still hear them playing as they had turned the sound system up more and more throughout the set. As it happens, they managed to cover people in fake blood too, so bearing in mind I was right at the front, my timing was perfect!
They are a great band who I'll enjoy hearing more from, and a fitting end to an amazing weekend. I'll be going to the next Infest for sure!
So, back to work tomorrow :(
I've just taken my green band off, I didn't want to as it meant that the weekend was definitely over, and work started once more in the morning. But I couldn't be arsed explaining a load of bands people at work would never have heard of, so I thought it was for the best. I do still have my Ayria band on though, so a piece of it will stay with me for a few days at least until I get bored wearing it.
If I met you, hello! If I remember you, even better, I was really quite drunk for most of the weekend. For those of you who are actually near Birmingham, I hope to see you soon!
Cya,
Alan
@ChimeraX
Posted
by Alan Colson
