 | | Dragons (pic: Steve Gullick) |
Little surprise then that said venue was hardly bursting at the seams tonight. Following the aural assault proffered by female duo Belladonna, headliners were Bristol-based Dragons, who journeyed north to purvey wares from their debut album, Here Are the Roses. The six piece electro-rockers cut an impressive sight eerily emerging through a quantity of dry ice not seen since Top Of The Pops circa 1983. The band ooze melodramatic gravitas; dark intelligent lyrics, lamentably tragic song titles - Failure, Redemption and Obedience anyone? - and undoubted talent. Anthony Tombling’s voice and former Levitation/Dark Star member Dave Francolini’s’ drumming meant that when they came, the good moments, such as the title track and Treasure, were worth the trip. Tombling’s confident, cool delivery remained upbeat despite the set being hampered by technical difficulties - problems which reduced the band’s ability to build anything resembling enthusiasm from the audience. That said, their inability to maintain interest can’t be entirely explained by temperature, glitches or dry ice-inducing asthma. Whilst they certainly have something worth connecting with, Dragons suffer from making their influences so apparent that seeing them feels more like watching a Depeche Mode tribute band than experiencing a groundbreaking take on electronic rock. Although it’s refreshing - and currently pretty rare - to see bands who are prepared to look beyond the Libertines for their influences, Dragons blur the line between building on what has gone before and simply copying it. They have undoubted potential but they’re more likely to find real fire if they add some more of their own genius, rather than following a path already trampled. | 
