The Astoria was heaving and hot as fuck last night, and accordingly, Billy Talent’s singer, Ben, only lasted a song before stripping off. Failing to cool this hyperactive singer down enough he resorted to pouring water over himself. By the end of the show he was soaked through with a combination of sweat and Evian.
But with a show as energetic and physically-charged as Billy Talents, it’s no wonder the boy is hot.
The band aren’t a remarkably ‘different’ band - heavy anthemic punk, like a metal band covering Green Day – but where other derivative bands fall down is being ‘good’. Like, really good. And Billy Talent are really good. Rip-roaring hard and heavy punk that’s tight as fuck and sticks in your mind well past the bus-ride home. Not least because every kid in the venue was singing every word.
Word,
Gill

Gill and I went along to the Subverse all-ages metal club last Sunday afternoon. It was the hottest day of the year (I reckon), and the place was heaving with mental (and excitable) 14 year olds covered in dirt and sweat. We did a spot of Djing to get the party started (or attempt to anyways) and got some funny looks for headbanging to Atreyu by ourselves. Ha ha! Anyways, the headline band that afternoon were mental trance/techno/hardcore rockers Enter Shikari. They had loads of their fans come along for the show, and the front few rows were packed with bouncing kids with day-glow necklaces and shining lights in their hands.

The band totally mix up the dance beasts with the blast beats in a surprisingly good – and really entertaining way – and they even had green lasers coming out of the drum kit – making the whole show into a bit of a mental rave meets circle pit. We both thought the band were really really good, but it’s easy to see how many would freak out at their quirky reach-for-the-sky hardcore and Nintendo metal. Still, 2006 will probably be pretty exciting for them, and they are touring again later in the year. Check out www.myspace.com/entershikari from some rough demos. 
Katie P x