Monday 4 September 2017

Gig Review: THE CRUEL INTENTIONS, CIRCUS JUNKIE REBELS, QUIET THE THIEF and RAGE CAVE at The Underground, Stoke-on-Trent (UK) 01/09/2017

Before I start this review, I apologise to opening band Rage Cave, because they'd already been and gone before I arrived. Sorry guys, shit happens!

As I walked into the venue, local Heavy Rockers Quiet The Thief were onstage, and my first thought was "Where the fuck is everybody"?

I counted about 30 people in the room, and most of them were in the other bands, the bands' girlfriends, or The Underground's staff.

I understand that The Cruel Intentions are relatively unknown in the UK, but they are part of a scene that I thought was fairly popular, so I thought that word of mouth would bring a few more people out of the woodwork. Having said that, they had not one, but three local support bands, so I expected the venue to be busy. Tickets were only £5, and it was a Friday night too! 

Sadly the masses clearly favoured staying at home with Netflix and a pizza over coming to the show. People suck, and it's a real shame, as they missed out on a great gig.

OK, now my rant is over, back to the show. Quiet The Thief were really good. It was my first time hearing them, and they sounded to my ears like Classic Rock with gruff vocals, with some of the cheese stripped away. Imagine modern Clutch mixed with early Almighty. No doubt, I'll hear one of their records and they won't sound anything like that. They're certainly a band worth checking out further.

Quiet The Thief
Up next were the Circus Junkie Rebels. They supported my band a while ago, and since then have a new bass player and an additional lead guitarist. They were the perfect local band to support The Cruel Intentions, as they're also clearly influenced by the Glam/Sleaze/Heavy Metal bands of the late 80's. Tonight, they sounded better than ever. The band was tight, and the excellent sound in the venue really helped their songs to shine through. 

Musically, they may not be treading any ground that wasn't covered in the 80's, but that's not really the point of this band. They know what they are, and do it very well. I've been trying to work out which band they remind me of the most, and I'm going to have to go with Dangerous Toys. There's still a huge worldwide market for bands like this, and I'm sure, with the right label behind them, they could be very successful.

Circus Junkie Rebels
Scandinavian Hard Rockers The Cruel Intentions were on fire tonight, and having a relatively tiny audience didn't seem to deter them at all, adding to their professionalism. They reminded me a lot of Backyard Babies and Machinegun Kelly (The badass Swedish Rock band, not the shit Rapper) with their aggressive delivery and sleazy party anthems.

Their show was full of energy, and from this performance, there's no denying that The Cruel Intentions could easily be in the same league as fellow Scandinavian Hard Rock bands Santa Cruz, Crazy Lixx and Crashdiet, providing their forthcoming debut album kicks as much ass as their live show. 

The Cruel Intentions are a class act, and I can see them getting a lot bigger in the near future. Don't be surprised if they return to The Underground in a couple of years and sell it out!

The Cruel Intentions at The Underground, Stoke-on-Trent
The Cruel Intentions at The Underground, Stoke-on-Trent
The Cruel Intentions at The Underground, Stoke-on-Trent
The Cruel Intentions

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