It was the 26th August 1995. Bank Holiday Sunday, I think, and Foo Fighters now legendary UK debut in a small tent at the Reading festival. That was the last time I attended a gig and didn’t catch as much as a glimpse of the band. Until tonight. The Cookie is sold out, hardly surprising really when you consider Slaves previous visit to the city was as support for Kasabian last May in front of around 30,000. I tentatively pull back the basement venue door and am instantly hit with the odour of teenage boys bedrooms and a searing heat only ever matched by the inside of a microwaved Ginsters pasty. This is Slaves ideal environment, if only I could actually see them!
Bang! No hanging around, the lads are immediately into their stride with ‘Sockets’ closely followed by ‘White Knuckle Ride‘ and ‘Live Like An Animal’. I have absolutely no comprehension of what’s happening down the front, all I can see is a mangled mass of torsos being hoisted aloft, their adrenalin rush only ceasing when they notice the low ceiling. There is something oddly surreal and amusing about watching dozens of young lads having their faces squashed and contorted against a ceiling whilst listening to ‘Beauty Quest’. A large part of me wants to get down the front for a few photos but the wiser half of my brain reminds me of my age and the fact I have a Health & Safety meeting to Chair in the morning.
Slaves have clearly worked hard on building a loyal following, there isn’t a soul here who cannot recite every word and every shrill shriek to pretty much their entire catalogue. There is a woman in front of me bouncing up and down whilst trying to record events on her Samsung S7. My guess is that the production values won’t be too high and it will be like watching the first Blair Witch outing. Yet people seem to *love* this band. Why?
I’ll tell you why, it’s because every few years the industry, almost by accident, spews out someone who reminds us how raucously kinetic music is able to be and how there is no other feeling quite like standing in a puddle of your own sweat and bawling to your heart’s content. Right now, Slaves are that band, a perfect marriage of energy, wit and a smidgen of rebellion. We need Slaves more than they need us and stood at the back of The Cookie was like watching a new generation of true music lovers coming of age. Slaves are a necessary rite of passage. Of course, the unrelenting pace continues, ‘Cheer Up London’ and new track ‘Spit It Out’ just pour further fuel onto the incendiary fire in front of me. Only when the opening chords of ‘Are You Satisfied?‘ waft through the heat-fog does everyone take a collective deep breath and head for hydration. Unfortunately, they have forgotten this track is only 90 seconds long and the madness soon returns.
Thirteen numbers and 45 minutes later the chaos peaks with ‘The Hunter’. We may not have been treated to much new material but this felt more like a last hurrah to some of their old favourites ahead of the new album Take Control. Slaves may eventually burn bright and quickly fade from view, who knows? Who cares? Lads, if you’re reading this, then you had me at “It wasn’t her fault…”
Photo credit: Simon Godley
