Nottingham locals Blight Town didn't so much arrive to the stage as linger following their belated soundcheck, but what they lacked in dramatic arrival they made up in instant performance. Straddling the borders of math, hardcore and post-hardcore, a blend of screams and melodic vocals were layered into the chaos to great effect. These guys are sure to become staple of the Nottingham musical landscape soon as they grow bigger with every show.
Eagles Vs Drones came next with their huge entwined harmony riffs and a classic metal feel. Clearly all excellent, experienced individual musicians, the Birmingham quintet stormed through a deep collection of original material without looking over their shoulder. A few technical hitches meant it wasn't the smoothest ride possible, but pushing through anyway showed their character shining through. Having sufficiently warmed up the crowd, the band left the stage seemingly satisfied with a job well done.
Creature took to the stage silently but with a clear mission: get on with playing songs. They made no hesitation doing that either, as they kicked through material from both Hex and Hound EPs without so much as a pause for breath mostly. The beauty is in the sound though; where most bands need at least four members or a giant pedalboard to sound substantial enough to fill a room, any space frontman James Thompson left with guitar frequencies was filled by Dan Willett on bass. The vocal back-and-forth between the pair blasted across the top of the chaos, underpinned perfectly by Tom Bradshaw-Smith on drums - the real orchestrator of the mania.
Creature really are unspeakably good and in even a conservative estimation, they are likely to be playing headliners around 1,000 capacity venues before 2020 is out. Huge sound, massive presence and creative vision to match.
