The Bronx and The Icarus Line review
I’ve been a fan of The Icarus Line for a while now and so theirs was
naturally the set I had been looking forward to the most. I am, however, not
going to lie and claim to be a massive fan of The Bronx although their Black
Flag tinged hardcore had previously interested me. I was a little sceptical
when they were announced as a band that were going to “kick our arses”
however when the set was over I felt that had kicked something even if it
was only the conception that the best bands are on the main stage. Opening
with one of the three songs of theirs I know, Heart Attack American, (White
Tar and Gun Without Bullets being the other two) their singing was jumping
his way around the stage and halfway through set (sometime around the
playing of White Tar) he was, like Dennis from T(I)NC the day before in the
midst of the crowd. The set included a Neil Young cover that I still haven’t
made my mind up on yet but overall it was a sturdy performance. After some
clever movement I was now in the second row of people (unfortunately behind
a rather large man who showed no interest in any band on the stage) and
ready for The Icarus Line. The Bronx had said that their friends were on
next however from the first note of opener Spit On It, it became clear that
The Icarus Line didn’t care whether we were friends with them or not, they
just wanted to play music (what a cliché!) Other songs in the set included
Kiss Like Lizards, Frankfurt Smile, Party The Baby Off, Caviar, Speed Sick,
an epic performance of Getting Bright At Night and finisher On The Lash.
There was also of course a performance of Feed A Cat To Your Cobra (the only
song from Mono that was played), which cleverly merged into White Devil.
Throughout the set singer Joe Cardamone bawled his guts out and I think
everyone was impressed by lead guitarist Aaron North’s acrobatics which
involved him hanging upside down over the back of his amp in order to obtain
the perfect feedback (Oh, and there was a lot of feedback in the set,
something that I personally loved). Although it was hard to spot many
die-hard fans in the crowd (the shout along bit to Feed A Cat To Your Cobra
illustrated this) I would like to think that the performance they gave won
over some undecided music listeners. I on the other hand just had my opinion
on them strengthened; they are one of the greatest rock and roll bands in
the world right now and at this moment it is hard to see where they can go
wrong.
