Live Review: Show No Mersey - District, Liverpool
2nd February 2024
Headliner: Conan
Support: Crepitation, Novacrow, Utopia, Spitfyre
Words: Cam Jones
District, where the night’s chaos takes place, is only small. You walk in then BAM there’s the stage, there’s the bar, prepare yourself. It’s nice to see the inside fill up quickly with people though; with five bands set to play up until 11pm, people can’t hang around too long before the madness starts. Spitfyre are on first; they’re only young but it’s that very youth that belies promising things within in the Merseyside scene. Considering it’s not even 7pm when they come on, Spitfyre are already bringing the energy through lively riffs, organic crowd interaction and a frontwoman who commands the stage. Spitfyre may not possess the crunching weight headliners Conan have but there’s a real vibrancy to their sound, one that bounces to and fro. The night is young but it’s good to see the band are giving it their all.
Utopia come on and instantly shake the place up with a formidably more intense presence, as their frontman’s vocals reach for the ceiling before plummeting down once more with visceral force. But the band are much more sporadic in their songwriting than one initially reckons, for their performance is wrought with a dissonant ire I haven’t seen in some time. It’s far more experimental than your typical extreme metal act as Utopia are very much at home with breaking the rules and doing what they feel is apt for their sound. There’s even the inclusion of warped piano keys and saxophone over their performance, giving the band big Imperial Triumphant vibes.
Imagine opening you set to the Looney Tunes theme. That’s Novacrow for you, yet they soon dive right into the thick of it with a sound thick in gothic vibes; the band possess a darkened, cultic atmosphere but they’re not here to be taken overtly seriously as they play into their ambience with ease. The band are incapable of staying still as their frontwoman locks eyes with us and their bassist moves his guitar around as if it were a toy. The stage might as well be an ice rink with how much movement and energy they’re throwing upon it. It’s striking how Novacrow play into that B-movie vibe where things can be cheesy or hammy but the band make it work for them; it’s like a haunted house from the 50s with really cheap effects has wandered upon the stage yet the crowd buys into the campiness their performance entails. Watching them is like beholding a Scouse Lawnmower Deth.
Crepitation are on next and they’re as insane as you can imagine them to be. The band’s slam approach to death metal has garnered them a legion of followers, knowing full well the silliness the band are looking to instil within their sound. Running their fingers across their mouths whilst pig squealing it may appear a ridiculous thing, and it is, but it only deepens the band’s balls to the wall mania. Not a word is intelligible but that doesn’t take away from the barmy fun Crepitation infuse their performance with. Yet, whilst this is the case, the band are composed of exceedingly talented musicians; their guitarist, drummer and bassist are utter wizards as they uncomprehendingly fast and precise. When you can tap play the bass guitar with all ten fingers. You know there’s a bunch of seriously talented people on stage even when the band play about unspeakably crude and hilariously juvenile material.
No theatrics. Nothing superficial. Just pure tone. That’s Conan. From his pedestal frontman Jon David commands us to hang our heads to dust. It’s astonishing how such slow riffs can harbour such exquisite malice, it truly is Doom reduced to the nth degree of tone. Conan’s power lies in the sheer, unadulterated power of the riff that drives not merely towards us, but through. Standing close upon their stage and the air speakers is enough to drive their tone right through us as their power becomes an unquestioned force; it’s almost like the anthems of stoner gigs whereby you’re binging to the totality of the the riff as opposed to levity such a sound provide us with. Even as the finding notes of a track’s segment ring out, the tone remains. This is Conan’s true strength; not merely satisfied with tracks alone, Conan unleash everything that tone is feasibly capable of and leave us to deal with its aftermath. Guitars ring out as the band take a water break; the tone is everlasting, it truly is eternal.
All in all, it says something of a metal scene when you can have five different bands play the same bill and every band will have a completely different sound from the next band proceeding. We had a straight up heavy metal act, one that was more experimental, another more loose and open to fun, Crepitation were the evenings’s slam choice and Conan, the headliners, were the destroyers of worlds with their crushing tone and domineering vocal presence. It made for a really engaging and refreshing evening where, when we had a new band emerge upon the stage, we weren’t getting the same kind of vibe over and over again. It kept things anew and invigorating as we went from one act to the next. It really made for a cracking night as I haven’t been to many Liverpool shows but, this night has demonstrated more than anything that Merseyside is utterly abundant with talent and is well worth looking into. Liverpool often gets overlooked on most bands’s UK tours but this is perfect proof that it’s a city that not only needs the attention but is more than ready for it.
Header image credit: Tim Finch Photography
