As I arrived to the gig, bang on doors, I had a feeling that this was going to be a good night judging by the length of the queue already forming outside Clwb Ifor Bach for the album launch party of Idle Hands, by the band Continents.
Opening act In Ruins put on a lively performance, getting things off to an energetic start with a set full of huge-sounding riffs. It was short but sweet, but they were well worth getting down early to catch.
The next band on the bill were crowd favourites When We Were Wolves, who everyone instantly got behind, both by moving about the room and by singing along to every line. However, like In Ruins, they were plagued by a short set allocation and subsequently didn’t have enough time to properly shine. However the one thing that did shine, and possibly too brightly, were the lights they had taken onstage with them. Positioned to face the crowd, they flashed at certain intervals at a fairly high intensity. Possibly great for atmosphere but not so great for my head, as I found myself with a bit of a headache by the time their set was over.
The main support came from Birmingham punk/hardcore band The Catharsis, who were full of energy right from the get-go, with frontman Morgan preferring to take a more ‘hands on’ approach by getting into the crowd and singing from there. Their success, however, was short-lived due to some equipment failure and subsequently leaving their singer the daunting task of stalling for time whilst they sorted out the problem. Treating the crowd to a small snippet of a cover of Electric Six’s ‘Gay Bar’, before Morgan engaged in idle chit-chat with some of the crowd members, we were suitably entertained until finally the problem was resolved and the set resumed once more, full of in-your-face riffs and intensity from all five members onstage. One to look out for in the future.
The night was always going to belong to Continents though, who were still riding the high from the release of their album in January. It was wild right from start to finish, the walls practically shaking from the vibrations of both the music and from the movement of the very enthusiastic crowd. Vocalist Phil effortlessly commandeered the room, making it look like child’s play as he invited members of the crowd to crowd surf for their ‘slow song’ Loathe, and started numerous walls of death. Before their last song, he took the time to thank everyone for supporting them, and then they launched into album-closer Lion’s Den, which practically became a riot at the end as he crowd surfed down one side of the room whilst the mosh pit continued on the other side.
A brilliant headline set, complemented well by all the other bands on the bill. Continents are surely one to watch.
8/10
Continents: Facebook
