Live Review: Tallah – Manchester

Having arrived early for a change, lack of traffic on the way into Manchester helps, I was surprised to see the queue around the corner of the venue as some music played inside. Asking the wandering security guard what was happening, he escorted me to the front to make sure that I didn’t miss any of the support bands, thank you to him for that.

And I was grateful he did, as I might have missed the excellent opening act Carved. Coming from Manchester, they were playing to a home crowd and didn’t disappoint. Satan’s Hollow is an odd venue, as the stage is in the middle, more about that later, but it means you can watch the bands from any angle, so I stood at the side, slightly behind the guitarist and took it all in.

With drummer Tom sporting a rather splendid Mastiff t-shirt, they began their ferocious assault on the crowd, with vocalist Mike, spitting out the words with venom accompanied by the heavy bass sound from Sam and the crunchy hardcore guitar riffs from Luke. The get decent applause from around the venue, and play songs mostly from their debut EP, “A Life of Miseria”.

The drumming is rapid and aggressive, and there is simply no let-up, playing “Miseria”, “Death By Fire” and “Born So Low” which combine some seriously crazy beats with some slow and heavy parts. The music is relentless, with punchy grooves and quite unforgiving which gets the crowd nicely warmed up, and then they are gone, but not forgotten.

Now, if someone had mentioned I’d be seeing a “trap-metal” artist a few years ago, I’d have probably laughed in their face and walked off! But being an old git, means that sometimes you must move with the times and listen to new stuff, so step forward BVDLVD (pronounced Badlad apparently) for my first lesson.

Fronted by trap-metal prodigy Josh Pearman, I’ve seen the name banded around for a while, and as he addresses the crowd with “Alright Manchester, lets dance like c**ts” and dance they do!!! He’s got them eating out of the palm of his hand, with the 4-piece going absolutely nuts. With their combination of hip hop beats, sampling, brilliant drumming and powerful riffs, they are building up quite a following.

Pearman certainly has a presence and gets the crowd to “put your hands up” as he’s a bundle of energy and is occasionally joined on twin vocals by the bass player, whilst the guitarist has a few sound issues. They have that nu-metal feel in certain places and as he wanders off around the stage, walking amongst the crowd they finish with two pulsating songs “(Don’t) Look at Me” and the utterly bonkers “Punk!” which round off an intense and heavy set. Maybe I should investigate this “trap-metal” a bit more!

And this is all set up for Pennsylvania’s Tallah, who have packed the venue out, not bad for a Monday night!! With camera’s attached to all parts of the handrails around the stage to capture the madness, the 6 piece are greeted like gladiators entering their arena, and the madness kicks off with “Stomping Grounds”.

All dressed in taped up white shirts, singer Justin Bonitz is another fireball of energy who doesn’t stop bouncing but also seems theatrical in approach, going from madman to zombie like state effortlessly, almost like he’s playing a part. With the songs coming thick and fast, we are treated to “Placenta” and “Vanilla Paste”, with all the band collapsing on the floor at one point.

One of my favourite songs “How Long?” slows things down somewhat before the pace is back to full on intensity with “We, the Sad” being a true crowd favourite, and they are lapping it up. With

the haunting samples and keyboards adding to their combined nu-metal/hardcore sound, there is no let up from the band, with the crowd all getting down on the floor before a conga line starts around the stage. All very bizarre, but immensely enjoyable to watch from my point stood on a bench at the side of the stage.

With the end in sight, they play the excellent “For the Recognition” before Bonitz declares the venue as the “coolest we’ve ever played” and this is where he finally starts to interact with the crowd. As “Redacted” plays, the band leave the stage, with the words of “Do you want more or not” ringing in their ears, and they come back to perform the powerful “No One Should Read This” which sees the crowd go off like a firework, but the “coolest thing to see” was yet to happen, as during final song “Overconfidence” a number of fans form a circle pit around the stage, with Bonitz joining in at on point.

And this brings an end to what can only be described as one bonkers and crazy evening of live music. More of the same please.