LIVE REVIEW: Gama Bomb @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester

The evening was met with a lot of show clashes on this particular Monday evening. One can tell if a gig was sold-out and others not quite so. However, it doesn’t take a sold-out show to be thoroughly entertaining, despite a room not reaching its capacity. It gave Irish thrashers GAMA BOMB the opportunity to host their foolishness at The Deaf Institute, in support of  their newest release, Bats and other smash hits to give a massive kick in the right direction.

With noise from their only support act of the night, North Yorkshire’s APOLLOYPTIC blasted out familiar thrashers such as Executed, Gunslinger and Supersede which gave an overall good impression to their sound. One’s setlist would not be complete without their renditions of METALLICA’s widely-adored For Whom The Bell Tolls and partying to MOTÖRHEAD’s Damage Case. That was humorously aimed to deafen their listeners on the next day returning to their day jobs! Their overall presence was strong for an upcoming thrash band trio as chanting to their chorus line “all that you need, is a kick to the head”. It gave the the Northern trio the respect to be on stage while gaining newer listeners.

Rating: 7/10

Sauntering on stage suited to the nines, main-man Philly Byrne took command from the moment Miami Supercops and Avenge Me kicked into gear with his Irish comrades. With the fun already at the right attitude when cowboy-inspired Rusted Gold pumped through the speakers, the flow got the crowd lively and the thrash metal five-piece began to relax and enjoy themselves more. The gloves were finally off when their classic 666Teen, the floor stirring Thunder Over London and catchy Sheer Khan blasted through some seriously addictive riffs, encouraging their Manchester crowd to instigate a ruckus. Their new track Speed Funeral led their congregation to create whirlwinds and even greeted the members on stage before flying off to keep the momentum.

Over the speakers rang their Health and Safety announcement, what followed was the customary appearance of Snowy, their ‘The Gamabominable Snowman’ mascot, that brought the fun more with fans greeting their evening celebrity while the apt Bring Out The Monster boomed through the room. Their mascot disappeared while She’s Not My Mother Todd  exploded to even more friendly violence. “There’ll be a few sore heads in the morning”, Byrne exclaimed before launching into She’s Not My Mother, Todd which stagedivers were carried around the room to the edge of the bar and their anti-Tory no-frills anthem Mussloini Mosh increased the speed in the circlepit.

With the set drawing to an early close, GAMA BOMB acknowledged their appreciation for the crowd to come out and it was nice to “act like children for a few hours”, as they proceeded with their enjoyable cover of THE POGUES‘ If I Should Fall From The Grace Of God, instigating a proper Irish party, before ending with amusing Zombie Blood Nightmare and the entertaining Terrorscope as cheers echoed through. GAMA BOMB waved their flag proudly for old school thrash metal to be presented in Manchester. It was a family affair.

Rating: 8/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Manchester from Sabrina Ramdoyal Photography here: 

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