Oxegen 2011 - Bipolar Empire
Sunday, Hotpress, 19:25
In a Tweet: Middle of the road rock with a intriguing conclusion.
What Happened: With the greatest of respect, Bipolar Empire were mediocre for about 80% of their set. They're more than competent musicians but it's just a bit dull - it's hard to get passionate about music that doesn't bring anything new to the table whatsoever. Tracks from their debut album go down well with the crowd and there's clearly quite a few hardcore fans. "It's Only Darkness" shows a somewhat murkier side to the band pop rock sound, but there's a very forgettable 20 minutes of music on show in the Hotpress stage.
Just when we've made up our minds about the band, they only go and ruddy pull something out of the bag. "Human Race" plods along gently, hiding its light under a bushel before finally coming to life, showing a bit of an edge that we've been craving for too long. The guitars get louder and Callum McAdam finally gets to let fly on the drums. Now they've got our attention, they end with a thunderous track with some inventive tempo changes and great guitar work (along with a few good hooks thrown in for good measure).
Crazy In Love: That final track was a surprisingly strong ending to proceedings and shows there's decent promise in Bipolar Empire.
Why Don't You Love Me: Despite that, however, it's impossible to look past the fact that for the most part the band offered little to quicken the heart. Maybe we're just hoping that the glass is half full, but aside from the finale there's very little distinguishing Bipolar Empire from countless other middle of the road Irish bands.
Oxegen Rating: 5/10
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