Reviews

After we all thought we had seen the end of live music at the L'Ancresse Lodge with the Exclaim! King of the Stage, the Vale Earth Fair re-located their first official fundraiser of the year to 'The Lodge' at the last minute and gave us one last chance to experience live music in this great venue.

Burton of the Bio-Nightmares.

First on the bill tonight was one of Guernsey’s most unique bands, The Bionightmares. Playing their own take on the horror punk style originated by bands like The Misfits in the mid 1970's their music is simple but effectively visceral and insistent.

Mixing original songs and instrumentals with a few covers, including Misfits classic 'We Are 138' the band really come into their own thanks to the stage show elements of their performance.

The crowd get into the Bio-Nightmares.

Dressed in matching blood splattered outfits, and with SkiTch the Sadistic Surgeon once again the 'mad scientist' of the group behind his keyboard, the first song saw a member of the crowd (in similar attire) dragged onto the stage and brutally disembowelled! (Though he was soon back up and dancing).

For only a second gig the Bionightmares seem to already be carving themselves a following and with a few more fully formed songs to go with the theatrics they could become one of Guernsey's most satisfyingly entertaining bands.

Murky of Brutus Stonefist.

Hardcore fused with metal next as Brutus Stonefist unleashed their aural assault on the Lodge. Featuring a new second guitarist in the form of former Astral Casket shredder Murky, the self proclaimed 'Master of The Riff Stance', which added a new depth to Stonefist's already heavy sound.

With Tom 'Shinfo' Domaille's voice continuing to improve the band sounded better than ever, however, their performance still seemed somewhat let down by the protracted breaks between songs which lost any sense of the momentum the band had built up.

Finally tonight was the last band ever to take to the stage at the L'Ancresse Lodge, modern metalers Thousand Points of Hate.

Gordie of Thousand Points of Hate.

Tearing through a set of three dimensional modern metal the band sounded great which was particularly impressive as James Le Huray had stepped in on drums at the last minute.

Despite a brief stage invasion from a member of the audience the band demonstrated why they are one of the best metal bands in Guernsey bringing to mind the music of acts such as Machine Head, with Gordie Liu's fantastic guitar playing fusing with Stace Blondel's vocals to create a real fully formed metal sound unlike any in the island.

With an impressive encore the band called time on one of the best venues Guernsey has seen and so the seemingly inevitable quest begins for local bands and promoters to find another suitable venue for live music.