Page 39 - Black Velvet Issue 86

BV86 concerts pg38&39:BV86 pg39 07/09/2015 22:33 Page 2

BlackVelvetMagazine.Com - 39

of the comparison. Allusondrugs are a thrilling band
to watch live, with their unique brand of psychedelic
rock capturing and fascinating everyone in the
crowd. Their trippy injection of guitar fuelled rock
music and blissed-out vocals really does make you
feel like you're on drugs.
Nobody at Havoc Festival could prepare them-
selves for what was about to happen next, as Lon-
don-based rock band Zoax take to the stage. “I
want everyone who's sitting down to get off their
feet and come join us,” demands vocalist Adam
Carroll. “I'll give you all one song to get up.” Zoax
then lunge into a set packed with jaw-dropping riffs,
contemplative melodies and aggressive energy,
with Adam controlling the crowd in such a way they
instantly became Zoax's biggest fans. Two songs
in, the music stops and an angry looking frontman
walks to centre stage - “I said one song, I gave you
two songs and you're still sitting down!” With this
Adam jumps into the crowd and sprints to the back
of the room, taking the hands of the people sitting
on the floor and dragging them into the crowd. This
is followed by the biggest pit of the night, with Adam
himself dancing and moshing with the crowd. No-
body can take their eyes off the Irish frontman as
he covers himself in glitter, dances around in other
people’s hats and slides across the venue on his
knees. With a combination of killer tracks that find
the perfect mix of melody and heaviness and a hyp-
notic frontman, Zoax have definitely stolen the show
tonight.
We're feeling bad for Forever Never having to
follow up that performance – but from the amount
of Forever Never merchandise in the room and the
deafening screams as they take to stage, we're
pretty sure they're going to do just fine. Vocalist
Renny Carroll takes to the stage grinning like a
Cheshire Cat, and as the band launch into 'Never Myth City
Enough' the crowd go crazy. This melodic metal
outfit from Essex have plenty of tricks up their
sleeve, from Renny telling the audience to “head-
bang with a smile on your face” to putting a metallic
twist on 'Boombastic' by Shaggy. Havoc Festival are Allusondrugs
loving every second of Forever Never's exhilarating
performance, but as the set trails on, we can see
the crowd itching for headliners Fearless Vampire
Killers to take to stage.
Fearless Vampire Killers have created a world
in which their fans can completely immerse them-
selves, and the culmination of this is a live FVK
show. It is very hard to define Fearless Vampire
Killers’ varied sound, and no two songs ever sound
alike musically. With Laurence Beveridge and Kier
Kemp sharing lead vocal duties throughout the set,
you almost get a two for one deal. As the band kick
into opener 'Neon In The Dancehalls' you can feel
the passion and exuberance of the fans in the
crowd as they dance, jump and reach towards the
stage for Kier's hand. The audience provides vocals
enough for almost every track, chanting each cho-
rus in unison and if that’s not a sign of a band that’s
made it, we don’t know what is. ‘Unbreakable
Hearts’ is heartfelt and passion-fuelled, then 'All
Hallows Evil’ provides a more muted tone, captivat-
ing the audience as they sway along to the song’s
melodic chorus. Theatrical frontman Laurence gets
absolutely everyone moving for 'In Wondrous Rage'
with its irresistible upbeat riff before the familiar
sounds of 'Could We Burn Darling?' fill the room.
This is followed by a glorious rendition of Elton
John's 'I'm Still Standing' as an encore, and as the
crowd rupture into applause, the first Havoc festival
comes to a close. It's without a doubt Fearless Vam-
pire Killers, Zoax and the rest of the lineup have
caused havoc in London tonight.
YYYY
Carissa Thorne

Photos By Carissa Thorne
CONCERTS