Roper / Illuminatus / Canvas Wall
18 May 2008
Dublin Castle, London
With scheduled opening band Broken Faith gone AWOL, it was left to London based Canvas Wall to kick of proceedings on this Sunday night at the Dublin Castle. Often gigs on the Sabbath can be dour affairs with people having one eye on the working week about to start. However, there’s an air of joviality in the bar and whilst the venue section was close to empty as Canvas Wall opened with Man Of Silence, quickly bodies start making their way in, intrigued by the sound emanating from behind the venue door.
Those that do enter the venue rightly stick about as Canvas Wall turn out to be a bit of a revelation. Playing highly melodic rock with an edge, the nearest current reference point that springs to mind would be Alter Bridge. The real talent here lies with frontman Simon Dounis who possesses a rich voice, perfectly suite for the band’s blend of rock.
Sitting in the centre of Canvas Wall’s set, the song Maybe was tonight’s highlight with an instant hook grabbing those here on first listen. Meanwhile End Of Nothing takes things in a heavier direction as Nathan Bryans nimble fingers nip around his bass’ fretboard.
A quick word with Dounis afterwards revealed that Canvas Wall are about to record some new material and any record company executive should prick up his ears when it lands on their desk.
Canvas Wall set list:
Man Of Silence / Dropping Like Flies / Hollow Inside / Maybe / Beneath My Skin / We Are All The Same / End Of Nothing / Not Alone / Listen To Me
I can use the old analogy of London buses for London Illuminatus gigs. Having not caught the Nottingham band for some time, this was the second time in two months they had ventured “down to the smoke”. With a new album to promote, The Wrath Of The Lambs, which I finally got my hands upon, it’s no surprise that there’s a flurry of live activity.
Things didn’t get off to the best of starts however, with Julio Taylor’s guitar failing during opener Wait. Not having a spare guitar to hand, Taylor had to leap of the stage and head to fetch a spare whilst the rest of the band improvised well on the songs main riff. Taylor chastised himself for not having the spare to hand, but to be fair the technical glitch was glossed over like pros.
Although their debut album is freshly released, Illuminatus aren’t resting on their laurels and tonight no less than half the set is new material. Of these Rising Tide had an air of familiarity having been played at Illuminatus’ last London show, but it’s Part 1 with its “heart cave in” refrain that really catches the ear and inspired a “one man mosh pit” – take a bow Chris Neighbour (Fourwaykill).
A dedication to Johan and myself for oldest song tonight Wargasm wasn’t going to bias this review, as by that point we’d already been thoroughly entertained.
Illuminatus set list:
Wait / Turk / The Wrath Of The Lambs / Part 1 / Wargasm / Rising Tide
Time was pushing on by the time Irish band Roper finally took the stage and in fact too late for me to stick around with last trains to catch. Unfortunately for Roper, it seems I’m not the only one as numbers thin quickly. A shame as the brief bit I did see suggested their brand of metalcore was worthy of further attention.
LINKS:
Roper
Illuminatus
Canvas Wall
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