There's nothing like a Monday night for a four band line up and a few beers on the sticky carpets of Moshulu and, as expected there was a pretty big turn out given Skindred have a very loyal fanbase in Aberdeen after numerous high energy shows over the last few years. 

Firstly up were local band Escape To Victory who had a sound almost like a mix of pop/punk and 36 Crazyfists. Some of their material worked quite well, especially their heavier end of  the spectrum but there was a bit to much of the sameness about it and similarities to numerous similar bands out there. However they are young and quite inexperienced but still entertained the crowd and got a good response. Can they rise further up the ranks, maybe with more gigs and stronger material they can but the jury is out at the moment.

The band next up though pulled in pretty much the entire crowd to the floor as Hot Mangu are one of the biggest local acts in Aberdeen. Their musical style is known as “Splat Metal” which is a fairly straight forward heavy metal sound but with added influences of everything from early Chilli Peppers to Faith No More and Metallica. It may sound strange but somehow it works really well however and with excellent charisma and character they had no problem getting the throng bouncing away very quickly. Although a relatively short set it was heavy and fast paced and worked excellently for this type of event  and one of these days Hot Mangu will break big as they show many a more experienced act how to entertain a crowd. Watch out for them if they come down to your neck of the wood. 

The main support for the evening came from Idiom, an unknown quantity to begin with but by the end of the set a band who left you wanting more, much more.  I was never a huge fan of Rage Against The Machine but Idiom's take on theit sound with an almost Pantera like infusion really opened my ears. This is a quality young band that need to be signed up right away as a blistering live performance gained them the whole of Moshulu as fans and I am pretty sure they will get the same reaction right across the Skindred tour. Even if you aren't a fan of the Rage related genre of metal give these guys a chance as the quality of their material is excellent. 

To say Skindred exploded onto the stage was an understatement, like a thermonuclear warhead going off Benji and co  hit the stage blasting the roof of with “Roots Rock Riot”. Everyone knew what to expect but the band raised the bar even higher and I have never seen a crowd bounce like that. Benji is the consumate showman and can work any audience into a frenzy and this was no exception with crowd favourites “Babylon”, “Nobody” and “Selector”creating a dancefloor frenzy of the highest order. The hybrid version of “Pressure” and Queen's “Under Pressure” was much appreciated as well as one of the many amusing points of the evening.  All the expected numbers were rolled out intermingled with a selection from the excellent new album “Roots Rock Riot”. For those not experienced in live raga metal then tonight would have been a shock with the amazing intensity and power. Really there were no stand out tracks as everything worked so well and it is amazing to see such consistency in the live arena. Fourteen tracks of sublime musicality left the crowd baying for more but unfortunately that was all there was though there is a Christmas tour coming up which I am looking forward to already.

Mike Clark