Loathe & Static Dress @ King Street Bandroom

Time flies when you’re having fun!

Ethan & Hayes hit up King St to see Liverpools finest, Loathe with special guest, Static Dress from Leeds. Yup. Just 2 bands on the bill. A rare thing for but also a good thing cause we were home before midnight (Thankya Geezus)

STATIC DRESS

Written by Hayes

Static Dress was up first. Firstly, that was one of the shortest sets I’ve ever witnessed. 35 minutes! I was hoping for an encore or something cause these guys were sick! They played some crowd favourites like Nostalgia Kills, Hospice and clean.

Right off the bat, the crowd was alive! Fist pumping(hand waving? Whatever you call it. Mostly found at a hip hop show), two stepping and moshing away. The lighting was questionable. Not good for the epileptics. It was way off and just bad for the first 3-4 songs but the visual showing their band name was stunning! Almost like a glass effect.

“This is some of the heaviest hitting breakdowns I’ve ever seen from an opener” - Ethan

Is Vincent (guitarist) wearing a tuxedo? Oh my god… he is! God I bet he’s sweating buckets up there on that!

The lead vocalists, Olli Appleyard’s energy was great! Encouraging and thanking the crowd also plugging the upcoming album Injury Episode, which comes out on May 29th via Sumerian Records.

These guys are an incredible choice as on opener as they proved that test are not here to fuck around an find out, they’re here to prove that they should be one of the greats - Ethan

Their setlist was a good mix of emotional ballads and most worthy jams. I counted just 1 wall of death but hey…… Not much you can fit in a 35 minutes slot.

Overall, this was their first time playing in Newcastle and I’m confident in saying that we’ve welcomed them with a lot of energy and open arms. I would love to see them again with a larger set.

LOATHE

Written by Ethan

Before I get into this, everyone needs to pull up a camp chair, take a psychedelic and let's get lost into space and time because that's exactly what a Loathe set feels like.

As static dress ended the music didn't change into the typical playlist music you hear during an intermission, this intermission we felt as if we were locked inside a haunted cabin with eerie sounds and a soft voice every couple of minutes. This set an example as to what we were in for.

I feel like I was in a James Cameron movie. Like I was frolicking through the avatar world in between songs it was like the calm before the storm - Hayes

As the lights went dark, that eerie music then turned into the type of music you would hear in a church gathering. This threw me off guard and I then had no clue what to expect, as the band entered the stage I was deafened by the crowd's screams and then it was instant energy straight off the bat.

The entire band was straight into 100% energy and gut wrenching riffs.

Kadeem's energy and dance moves had a chain reaction on the entire crowd, from the front to the back I didn't see a single person standing still. The crowd were even using the tiny bit of free space at the back of the venue as their personal dance floor. Even multiple venue staff stopped to take a few minutes to headbang, get a quick clip and take a moment to take it all in.

So let's talk about the music. Personally, I only know 2 Loathe songs and I hadn't really dived deep into their music yet, but after this gig I have become a huge fan and all I can say is “I get it now”.

Loathe seems to combine every aspect of every sun genre into their own unique style, im getting tastes of Sleep Token, Pierce The Veil, Deftones, Dayseeker, Alpha Wolf, Lorna Shore and Make Them Suffer just to name a few.

Whilst blending all these aspects together I am met with a completely new universe, whilst listening to Loathe i feel as if i am drifting through space, even the breakdown want to make you attempt to rip a hole in space and time.

If I could describe a Loathe set, it's like disappearing into euphoria without having to harm your body (maybe your ears if you listen at full volume which is a must), i had to stop for a moment and question if im drunk or just extremely lost in the music.

Pretty much imagine Loathe as Sleep Token, but they actually appreciate and acknowledge their fanbase.

Honestly it has me baffled as to how Loathe was playing at King st Newcastle, these guys deserve to be up on a show like Hordern or Riverstage

Now there were a few moments I was very surprised by. As I was watching from the back of the room I saw very minimal phones up in the air, maybe about 3-4 at a time. Also I was very blown away by how many local hardcore members were in the crowd.

And something that is very 50/50 at the moment is if bands do encores or not, when loathe walked off the stage i was genuinely stumped if they were going to come back or not, and to my surprise they did come back out for 2 more songs.

As i walked out the only thing on my mind was “i need more”, i was searching what state they were playing next just so i didnt have to wait god knows how long before they come back.

So if seeing Loathe isn't in your bucket list of gigs, may may need to heavily consider writing their name on there.