That Friday feeling

After another hectic week in college, with assignments building up, the plan for Friday night was to unwind with plenty of gigs on offer around town.

I met up with Boo in the backroom of Paris Texas, for a free gig courtesy of the lads from General Rock, with Atrax Mantis and Crucifracture on the bill. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a gig in the backroom and I wasn’t sure it was a suitable venue for two of Kilkenny’s heaviest bands. There’s no stage so the gear was set up in the middle of the room and there’s a huge buzz coming from the monitors because of the lights in the room. There’s also an extractor fan at the back of the room and it’s unbelievably loud!?

T, the vocalist from Atrax Mantis is waiting for the rest of the band, it’s the drummer’s (Fuzz) birthday and they’re late. Crucifracture step up to soundcheck, they’re only a few bars into the song when a barman rushes in and tells them to stop, people are still eating their dinner in the bar. The rest of Atrax arrive slowly but surely, in various stages of drunkeness. Myself and Boo head to the Zoo.

Daw’s on sound duty tonight in the Zoo for indie band, Autoban. The plan is to move between these two gigs and catch all four bands if possible. When we get to the Zoo the bands are still only setting up so we head to Cleeres to see if Preston Reed has started. Preston Reed has started but it’s €15, we sit at the bar and have a pint instead.

We get back to Paris Texas just as Atrax Mantis get started. There’s about 25 people in the back room, with the house lights off over the bands, it’s more like a private party. But that’s okay because Atrax aren’t taking this one too seriously. They’ve even got a new intro for the night, it sounds like it’s taken straight from a porn, sounds of a guy and a girl in great pleasure, everyone laughs , Atrax Mantis blast into their set. There’s less energy from them, possibly due to the levels of drunkeness, but they’re having some fun with it.

Bassist Guilly is usually the most energy on stage, his long hair windmilling around, tonight he’s also throwing in a display of drunken face pulling and improvised backing vocals for T’s growls. They even bust into an improvised “Holy Diver” at one stage.

Outside in the main bar is a mix of hen-nights and check-shirts, listening to songs like “Dancing on the Ceiling”, it’s not surprising that people keep coming in to watch in confusion at Atrax Mantis. But the small crowd in the back room are enjoying every minute of it.

Atrax finish up (I’ve definitely missed the first band in the Zoo at this stage), but I don’t want to miss Crucifracture, so myself and Boo wait around. I’m not sure how long it was between the sets, but I’m pretty sure you could have fit another band in there. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Crucifracture and the lads pound through another great, but very short, set.

They seem a lot heavier than Atrax and this is backed up when ornaments and candles overhead start to fall down during their set. They finished up with a new song, I can’t remember the name and at this stage alcohol had gotten the better of my note taking. But no doubt the title is another great one to add to their list which includes the likes of “Orgy in excrement” and “Fist your bitch!”.

By the time I get back to the Zoo, I’ve missed Autoban. Oh well, there’s plenty more music tomorrow night!