6/6/2008 Towers Of London @ Quattroz in Harlow

Subject	Towers Of London @ Quattroz in Harlow
PostedDate	6/6/2008
	This was going to be an interesting one - 'London's most hated band' Towers Of London making a comeback gig after nearly a year. It was so low profile that I guess it couldn't really be called a 'comeback' show - more just testing the water with the new lineup? It was certainly a very odd choice of venue for this band - a small club in chav-infested Harlow in Essex.  Quattroz isn't that bad a place, although it has a reputation for being a bit of a dive - probably because of it's normal clientelle rather than the actual building. However, this was very much a rock night so the club was a chav-free zone on this occasion. The bar wasn't too great from my point of view, but I was driving so it was Red Bull all the way for me anyway. The place didn't seem that packed, but I guess a lot of Towers fans didn't even know about this gig and it was also not so accessible for many people. In spite of all that, there were quite a few people there who I've seen at Towers gigs in London and I'm quite surprised to meet a couple of people I know who have made the trip out into the wild's of Essex.  It was odd seeing this crowd in what doesn't really appear to be a 'rock' venue. It's difficult to tell if this is deliberately a low profile gig out in the sticks with only hardcore fans intended to be there - the band's forum seems to have been abandoned by it's admin and the band themselves for some time, and the official website seems to be dead in the water too.  The band's MySpace has gone from looking like a well designed and professional one to something that looks like a 14 year old kid's first attempt, so I don't know what the band's new management are up too? You'd think someone would have sorted all this stuff out wouldn't you?  It's hardly rocket science running a half decent website and a MySpace profile... The band seemed to be playing down their normal OTT persona, although it has to be said that things haven't been the same since the Rev and Snell left last year. Maybe they have decided it's time to let the music do the talking instead of relying on their infamous image and attitude?  Gone (for tonight at least) is the big hair and sloganned vests - only Donny is wearing a vest, and it's a plain light blue one. Usually the whole band have that 'last gang in town' look and come on stage all wearing leather jackets, but only Dirk is wearing a leather jacket tonight, and Donny's tracksuit top makes him look more like a typical Harlow chav than a rock star.  Also gone is almost their entire setlist - of the fourteen songs in the set tonight, only two remain from their 'Blood Sweat & Towers' album. "Did you see my head touch the ceiling?" This show seems to be testing out the band's new songs, and some of them like 'Naked On The Dancefloor' are rather good (although the guitar riff is very similar to 'Horses' by Terrorvision offshoot Malibu Stacey) but somewhat different in style. Maybe the band are going to change their image too, but at this show they don't really seem to even have an image. Maybe they just couldn't be arsed to make an effort to look like 'rock stars' for this gig, or maybe they are deliberately playing their image down to see how the new songs stand up on their own? I guess only the band (and their new manager) know the answer to this... The band play well enough tonight, but without the fire of their earlier performances. This was certainly far better than their show at the Electric Ballroom last year though - which ended with Donny saying it might be the last ever Towers Of London gig... Donny gives a show good tonight, but can't really give his best in the confines of this small club venue without a big stage to run around on or PA stacks to clamber over. The new songs seem to go down well with the crowd, although most those present are obviously hardcore fans and if the band played a set of ABBA covers they would still have lapped it up. I'm not sure how permanent this current lineup of the band is - maybe they don't know either?  The band are apparently recording their next album, but who is playing lead guitar and drums? I think the guitarist at this gig was Kristian Marr - looking very unlike he belonged in the band although he played OK. *See comment below by Chaz* As for the drummer, well he could hardly have looked more out of place! The band are playing in London in October so it will be interesting to see who plays that higher profile show and also to see if the band decide to 're-invent' themselves and their image...