The American Scene seem a strange band to open proceedings to a packed King Tuts. Their rather dull indie doesn’t really get anywhere and never manages to grab the crowds attention. There is no doubting there will be gigs where The American Scene go down great but tonight is not that night and while they walk off the stage to polite applause it is nothing compared to what is to come.
Following them is Night Verses who hit the stage and instantly raise the tempo. Their blend of hardcore with huge choruses and massive hooks is an instant success and front-man Douglas Robinson is like a man possessed as he throws himself around the stage until he is quite literally drenched in sweat. What’s amazing is that there is someone else on the band that manages to draw your eye away from him in the form of drummer Aric Improta who brings to mind a young Dave Grohl, in looks and style. He pounds his drums like they have called him mum fat and he is a captivating presence. It’s clear the crowd are in a lot happier territory here and judging by this performance don’t be surprised if Night Verses is a name you hear a lot more of in the coming years.
Tonight however belongs to one band, and one band only. As Letlive stroll onto the stage it’s clear that they are ready to do damage and when they launch into “Banshee (Ghost Fame)” the crowd explodes. It takes all of half the song before Jason Butler throws himself into the crowd and pure madness takes over. Butler is as unique a front man as you will get and his strange hillbilly nutjob persona comes across like a mixture of Bray Wyatt (wrestling reference) and Lee Tobin as he goes from emotional touching speeches to pure unbridled anger and hate. An incredibly emotional rendition of “Muther” shows just how special this guy is as he gets all 300 odd people to sing down the phone to his mum and I can’t be the only one who poked myself in the eye a bit while he spoke about her influence on his life.
To steal a cliche Letlive are like a perfect storm. They bring together the chaos of hardcore with huge emotional choruses and songs that just grab you and force you to pay attention. They then funnel all this through the insane performer that is Jason Butler and it’s almost a credit to the rest of the band that they never truly distract you from what he is doing. They plug in and they play and they play damn well but they are obviously aware of exactly what they have in this man. He’s a big enough presence that you just have to wind him up and let him go.
With the release of their new album The Blackest Beautiful Letlive have taken one more step towards world domination and judging by tonight that world is one I want to live in.
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