Live Review: 1000Mods – Manchester

Having witnessed 1000mods live for the first time last year at Rebellion, there was no way I was going to miss their return to these shores, especially as they’d be playing songs from their latest sensational album, “Cheat Death”. And for a Sunday night in Manchester, the crowd was sizeable and waiting in anticipation.

The support slot was taken up by Manchester’s own stoner rock trio Ritual King, who continue to wow crowds with their mix of heavy blues psych rock music, and go from strength to strength. Danny Goodwin gears up with a with a few slaps on his bass, and they go into a gentle beginning, before opening with some cracking riffs.

“Flow State” has that that dreamy guitar sound from Jordan Leppitt, and he harmonises the vocals well with drummer Gareth Hodges. “Whose looking forward to 1000mods” shouts Leppitt, which is met with a good ovation, before they play “Worlds Divide” a song that always goes down well live, as all 3 band members get to showcase their skills, and I enjoy hearing the experimental sounds that emanate from their instruments.

“This is going to be our final song, and it’s called “Valleys” as they begin the song to end their short but excellent support slot. With the cymbals getting a gentle working over, they build up the tempo and that rhythm flows beautifully. Heads are moving all over the place, and with softer lighting emphasising the solos, they leave the stage to decent applause from the audience.

As if befitting with their final show being announced last week, Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” is blasting over the PA, and with sirens blaring, and red lights adorning the stage, the crowd sing along before turning to loud cheers as the Greek quartet 1000Mods walk onto stage. After a few strums of the guitar, bassist/vocalist Dani G greets us with a “Good evening, we are 1000mods” and the fun begins, with opening track, “Overthrown”, the first of 6 songs from “Cheat Death”.

“Thank you very much, we are so happy to be here, are you ready for some fun?” which draws huge cheers as we are hit with that riff and that that bass from “Electric Carve” which sees Dani playing high bass doubling off the guitar parts, and with a video playing in the background, we are subjected to a performance of epic proportions. You can feel the floor vibrating during “Road to Burn” as the people gathered inside slowly headbang in unison.

“Claws” just bounces along and it’s full of solos that get you moving, but with “Astral Odor” the bar gets raised significantly, as it flows so well, and is superbly executed. With Labros G being cohesive with his tom rolls and what sound like Latin America style drum sounds, they are in complete control with “Warped” and the stunning “Cheat Death” up next to mesmerise the audience.

More intricate drumming introduces “Loose” before the power kicks in from the rest of the band and the tempo changes are pure gold. At this moment, security step into the middle to take care of some sort of scuffle, but it’s all forgotten by the time the bass sound kicks off “The One who Keeps me Down” and the crowd are fully engaged with the pacey number.

From such a small drum kit, Labros really does create an enormous sound from it, with “Gotzenhammer” and “Low” evidence of this where he takes control of the songs, before the bass kicks in with the smooth guitar riffs, then the raw aggression leads the way. They are a sight to behold live, as with songs like “Speedhead” and “El Rollito” there really aren’t many better bands around in this genre of music. They’ve got everyone moving and headbanging, it’s a joy to behold.

“It’s been a pleasure, and we’ve had a great time tonight, this is called “Into the Spell” and when that riff bounces into the song, the pit gets a bit more hectic. It’s a long, winding song, but magical at the same time, and as the three walk off, they leave drummer Labros alone to finish the song solo.

With the crowd clapping and chanting “one more some” they emerge with some words from Dani, “this is for our friend who fought for this life and won, and is here with us tonight, this is called Vidage” which masterfully rounded off a quite sensational night of music from the Greek gigs of stoner rock.