Pentragram, Horizont and Pursons- The Garage, London, UK 12/9/11

Hard to believe that the US doom rock band, Pentagram, who have really come blasting back on the scene in the last few years have never played in London! I was coming over for the Hawkwind gig and was so lucky that Pentagram was playing the day before. Pentagram just played in Copenhagen last Sunday to rave reviews and some significant set list changes from when we saw them earlier this year, which is nice. The show I saw them play at Roadburn was not very good and kind of let down. The band just did not have a groove or the feeling that day. Anyway, I have never seen a concert at the Garage and did not know what to expect.

          Sue and I arrived 18:45 and got in the cue, which was still quite small. There were a few people selling tickets and it was now sold out. Anyway, we were in quickly and found the best place in this club, right behind the soundboard, which is slightly elevated and there was one table and one chair, which Sue got. It was a great location for recording and filming.

          A big surprise was when the new Rise above band, Pursons started playing at 19:20 for a 25 min set. The place had less than 100 people it in but it was quite filled by the time they finished. They are a new melodic dark rock band from the UK, a bit like Blood Ceremony but with shorter songs and the female singer is not quite as distinct. They have keyboard player who also plays some rhythm guitar but the focal point of the band is the female singer who also plays the SG guitar. The first few songs the keyboard sounded like a flute and a later an organ. None of their songs had any guitar solos until the very last song, which was the coolest one they played. See the video below. They were actually pretty good. My friend Nils from Copenhagen had arrived 10 mins into their set. I also met Martin from Litmus and Tom from Church of Misery. Nice to see some friends.

          It was like 10mins and Horizont from Sweden, who this was, suppose to be a release party for were up and had the place really rocking! They also played a very short set like 7 songs in 35-40 mins. I actually liked both the new songs quite a lot. One was a uptempo one and the other one was a longer blues track with a really nice guitar solo. I filmed this one. It was great that the played the Unseen from the debut record as well. Singer has a very intense voice but damn, they are a good band. A bit like UFO meets Wishbone Ash! They got a pretty good reception and said this was their 2^nd gig in England. NO word on when the new LP would be out on Rise Above.

          The place was filled with people from the UK underground scene. I saw the bass player from Electric Wizard, two of the guys from Orange Goblin, Martin from Litmus, Cathedral guys, and other people that looked familiar as well. The guys from Pentagram were also hanging out near the merch desk during Horizont, including Bobby.

          Anyway, Pentagram hit the stage at 20:50 and rocked the place. The sound was much louder and really good and a very solid set of music was played as well and different songs from what we saw last year. The crowd favorites were clearly songs like Relentless, Wartime, Dying World, Signs of the Wolf and All your Sins. They also played three songs from the new record, one I don’t like at all (Into the Ground) and one I really like, I’m the Man. The place had a lot of energy and the crowd was totally into it. Bobby was also very cool with those crazy eyes and he sang well. He was very happy with the crowd. The final encore was the only time where they had some improve and jamming with a great version of When the Screams Come. They played about 75 mins in total and it was really good. I don’t think anyone came away disappointed. Great night and I highly recommend seeing a show at the Garage. Easy to get to and a top venue (500 people).