LIVE REVIEW: Leprous @ Rock City, Nottingham
When bands announce one or two dates in the UK, there a high probability that the cities chosen to host are London and another, often somewhere like Manchester. For LEPROUS to therefore choose two locations further north than Birmingham on their current European run is seldom heard of, but here they are on their first of two UK shows at the hallowed Rock City in Nottingham before heading for Leeds the night after.
As punters fill the room, they are greeted with the uncommon sight of a stage still in the process of being made up. As it turns out, there have been severe delays in both the headliners and scheduled openers FIGHT THE FIGHT from coming over on the ferry from mainland Europe, resulting in the latter not being able to play and issuing a heartfelt apology between sets. It also means that British duo NORDIC GIANTS take to the stage twenty minutes late and have their set cut to just three songs, but they use their limited time well.
Opening with Philosophy Of Mind from their 2022 release Symbiosis, the pair play drums and piano live whilst the rest of their instruments are backing tracks, accompanied by some of the greatest avant garde images to ever grace a screen in a live music environment. Whether it’s shots through a military gun sight, animations of a couple embracing or the rather disturbing footage of a man in an armchair, in front of a pyramid of TVs and eating worms, it works brilliantly with the instrumental post-metal accompanying as a soundtrack. Their show might have been brief, but it’s certainly a memorable experience.
Rating: 8/10
LEPROUS can only bring the delay down by five minutes, but they take no time at all getting into their stride and encapsulating all within the venue. For a full seventy minutes, what began as a very tricky day turns into a triumph over tribulation – there isn’t a single person who doesn’t fall under LEPROUS‘ hypnotic prog metal. Highlights are many, from the polyrhythmic riffs that pepper The Price to a surprise cover of Angel, originally by MASSIVE ATTACK, but the double salvo of On Hold Into Slave is the absolute pinnacle – the first is outstanding, graceful in its delivery and beautifully sung by vocalist Einar Solberg; somehow, the second is even better, taking a venue of feverishly passioned fans onto another plane of reality with its soaring synths and tribal drums.
This is one of those nights where the bells and whistles that can come with a live show simply don’t matter – what we have here is five guys playing their tunes with a stellar light show and sending Rock City into raptures. It’s even enough that when singer Solberg announced he spent a year living in nearby Walsall, there are very few boos, although one wonders what might have happened if he’d say Derby. Allowed to play beyond a usually strict curfew and finishing with The Sky Is Red, LEPROUS leave to total acclaim; for those attending, this is the benchmark by which all other gigs they see in 2024 will be set against, and rightly so.
Rating: 9/10
Check out our photo gallery from the night’s action in Nottingham from Kendall Giles-Davidson here:
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