Wednesday 20th May 2009 @ The Croft, Bristol
With Support From: TLI, We Are Underfire, Zero Pilot

The Croft on Gloucester Road is home to many different styles of gig and tonight is no exception. Tonight will be a metal gig showing off some of the best in-your-face rock this city has to offer! Shamefully though, this does not apply to the first band named TLI. I will not be reviewing this band extensively. I don’t feel I was getting an accurate representation of their performance considering how incredibly hammered the lead singer/guitarist was! I will go as far as to say the guy could barely see let alone find a chord. Not good…

Next up were a band called We Are Underfire, a rather tepid, local four piece. These guys have some solid riffs and well structured songs but unfortunately they are accompanied by very lazy vocals and a set that had clearly ran way over its allotted time. I enjoyed their set but I don’t feel they have anything new or different to offer the local rock scene.

Main support of the night came in the form of Zero Pilot who are one of the mightiest unsigned metal acts I have ever come across! They expel hard rock from every pore and perform to the audience with ease. Even with only one guitar, Zero Pilot seem to make sublimely controlled racket. Personal favourites from the set were Dirty Halo and the gloriously epic What Are You Waiting For? Both of the songs need to be heard live to be believed as the stage presence of the American lead singer, Rob, elevates the songs immensely. These guys thoroughly enjoy the music they perform and took the gig to a new level.

In the headline slot tonight were local metal rockers Cars On Fire. The band stood at the front watching the other bands, looking more like venue security dressed all in black. As soon as they took to the stage the atmosphere literally exploded into a furious wave of heavy rock! Cars On Fire simply came to life jumping and thrashing around, putting on a very entertaining show. Lead singer, Ali, screamed through the songs with lots of attitude and bravado. He interacted incredibly well with the crowd between songs and made eye contact with most people in the room during songs, something not many performers can do. The biggest surprise for me was how the music managed to sound so tight and together when the band and jumping around so much. It made the performance and the songs knit together perfectly and brought more energy to the material. Cars On Fire are in a league of their own when it comes to unsigned metal acts it seems.

I would urge anyone needing a decent fix of metal to go and see Cars On Fire or Zero Pilot.

www.myspace.com/carsonfireband

Stu Freeman