18/7/2010 Obsessive Compulsive & From Ruin @ The Gaff

Subject	Obsessive Compulsive & From Ruin @ The Gaff
PostedDate	7/18/2010
	A bit of a last minute thing this. Obsessive Compulsive have been added to the bill at The Gaff at short notice. If they are coming all the way from Manchester to play in this small London venue then the least I can do is take a 45 minute trip across town to see them. I have my journey all planned out and leave just in time to get there when the band start their set. Or I would have if as I was approaching the station with a couple of minutes to spare I hadn't seen the train leaving! Unknown to me - First Capital Connect have introduced a new summer timetable this is it's first day! With about 40 minutes before the next train I decide not to wait and take a 25 minute walk to the tube station instead. I eventually arrive at The Gaff to find that Obsessive Compulsive have nearly finished their set. Bummer!  I've never heard of any of the other bands one the bill. The next band is some sort of thrash/death metal mob. As soon as I hear the guitar being soundchecked as they set up I guess exactly what the following 30 minutes or so is likely to sound like. My fear are confirmed as the band start the first song and the 'singer' lets loose a 'WOOOOOOAAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!!' type grunting noise. I decided I've suffered enough and join my mates in the street outside for the rest of their set. The next band doesn't look much more promising. I think they are called From Ruin. They look pretty much 'metal-by-numbers' - apart from the fact that they have a girl singer. What makes this band stand out so much compared to the previous lot (apart from the singer being easy on the eye) is that their singer actually sings! Yes - a metal band with a proper singer! OK, I know there are a few others around, but they are definitely in the minority these days.  It also has to be said that this band have more interesting actual songs than the previous band as well and a bit more thought appears to have been put into them. They are good musicians too, although it's very rare that you'll see a metal band these days who aren't - although the songwriting and vocals are often terrible.  It's not that I don't like metal - I just like it to be actually good, and I don't think much of it is these days. Apart from her more obvious visual appeal, the singer from this band does draw you in with her enthusiastic performance and charm. You feel you are watching a real 'performance' - a natural one - not obviously studied and trained as some girls fronting bands are. This girl ensures that you remember this otherwise unremarkable but competant band. The final band are yet another very generic Pantera style bunch of thrashers.  We all head of up the road to Big Red - even through the beers are a bit more expensive. At least their toilets are in better shape - and they are playing AC/DC and the Ramones on the house system.  Much though I like The Gaff, it's downward slide seems to be continuing - real ale pumps now disused and gathering dust, and the toilets getting more decepit and stinking with each vweek. This place now probably hold the London record for the longest time broken hand drier in the gents toilet.

PS: This venue has now closed. Maybe the writing was already on the wall...