ALL LIVING FEAR

23rd July 2004 – Croydon • The Cartoon

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Line-up











In short, it was a good gig. Venue was great, not a massive turnout but respectable all things considered, and Claytown Troupe turned up (well 2 of em!).
Here is a full review nicked from the Rome Burns website:

"ROME BURNS, JESUS FIX & ALL LIVING FEAR at the CARTOON, CROYDON, 23rd July 2004.
Review by Lisa Noel.

Before the usual diatribe about musicians and the noises that they make, I feel I ought to say a little something about the venue. The Cartoon is great. The stage is spacious, the PA works, there's air conditioning, a well-stocked bar, a 'backstage' room and toilets with 360 degree graffiti ('Beware the end of level boss', 'love me, love my mullet' and the ever popular 'I suck cocks'). It's probably one of the best venues for small bands inside the M25. It does however suffer from one major flaw: although it's close to London, it's not close enough to lure out the 'Zone one zombies'.

Thus there was not much of a crowd: but those that were there seemed to enjoy the Cambridge electro-punk-folk-goth heroes. Uncle Satori was whinging before the gig that his weeping conjunctivitis and a breakfast of two large Pina Coladas (what a rock & roll lifestyle!) conspired to make him uncomfortable and dull-witted and he was worried about the state of his upcoming performance.

As usual, however, he needn't have worried: the Rome Burns Boys can overcome any crisis. When Daevid leant into his mike to whisper sweet nothings to the audience (for "Seeking Mr. Hyde") and discovered that all he got was squealing feedback, the band didn't panic. They just said a few well-chosen words to the sound engineer and started the track again (with Simon and Nev affectionately joking that Daevid had never sounded so good!). And when Nevla's number one guitar broke a string, a couple of songs into the set, he didn't worry. He just switched to his number two guitar, without further comment. Of course none of this got past 'dull-witted and blind' Simon, who fixing his bleary eyes on the smaller-than-usual stringed instrument, dedicated the last song ("Blue Boy") to Nev as a 'Banjo-love-god!'. I know I'm biased but sometimes those three guys just ooze charisma and professionalism.

The crowd thinned out a bit for the remaining bands but those who stayed were in for a surprising treat with Jesus Fix. JF have only a tenuous connection to the goth genre and have a sound that owes far more to Metallica than The Mission. I personally have more of a punk background than a metal one but I had to admit that these guys made a loud and impressive noise. The lead vocals were clear and powerful and backing vocals were precise and harmoniously supplied by a sweet voice hidden behind a drum kit and incongruously from inside the large and hairy drummer. All Living Fear will need little introduction for most people reading this, having been around since the early 1800's when young Matt North put down his rattle and picked up a six-string guitar. Matt is one of those rare things within the goth scene: a guitar legend. Possibly because there are only two people in ALF, your eyes and ears are naturally drawn to what the long-haired guy is doing with his instrument. The vocals were very muddy but Andy (the man behind the mike) did his best impression of a leather-clad rock god and competently filled his half of the stage with scowls and baritones. The highlights for me were "Jessica" (for nostalgia reasons) and the new album track "Home Too Soon" with its strange surf-goth sound provided by Matt playing slide-guitar with an empty pint-pot. In summary: a great variety of sounds, a warm and friendly bunch of musicians and a great night in a hidden gem of a venue."
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