Liars – Audio, Brighton – 12/11/10
5/5
By: Keri Kennedy
When a gig's venue gets downgraded, usually you'd feel sorry for the band and their poor tickets sales. But when promoters One Inch Badge moved Liars from the 800 capacity Concorde 2 to the tiny seafront venue that is Audio a mere one day before the show, it couldn't have been a better decision – especially as far as the crowd were concerned.
On this long-awaited return for the LA-based noise terrorists, Angus Andrew's almost 7-foot frame loomed large while chanting through ‘It Fit When I Was A Kid’ (from 2006's miraculous Drums Not Dead) and seamlessly continued to impose well into the stomping ‘Clear Island’ and beyond.
‘Loose Nuts On The Velodrome’ was a welcome surprise inclusion from often neglected debut album They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top, and as Angus started his flappy, jerky arm dance, almost smacking people in the face in reaction to the sheer volume of the music, we realised ear plugs would've been a good idea. Similarly, ‘I Can See An Outside World’ from current album Sisterworld, started off harmoniously, but built into a shrieking crescendo.
Few words were spoken, just the odd thank you, with Angus saying he liked being by the sea but was disappointed it was too cold to get in. This was met by a sarcastic little voiced heckle of 'get over it, don't be such a pansy', a voice he either didn’t hear, or we can only presume chose to ignore.
Elsewhere, their inspired cover of Bauhaus's ‘In The Flat Field’ featured some brilliant bass drum work from Aaron Hemphill (leaving his guitar to one side for a moment), and ‘There's Always Room On The Broom’ destroyed what was left of the audience's hearing, while ‘Scissor’ – arguably one of the singles of 2010 – cemented the destruction with its crashing, thunderous chorus.
But it was left to ‘Scarecrows On A Killer Slant’ to provide the devilish finale. Transformed via an added, almost glam rock stomp, arms flailed, tribal drums pounded, and Angus shrieked beyond comprehension. It was over all too soon. While they should have been filling bigger venues across this whole tor, it's sweaty little gigs like this that make you remember why Liars are so utterly, utterly fantastic.
Artists in this article: Liars
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