When I applied for Show Me The Body, I thought I’d applied for some kind of weird morbid art display. Turns out what I applied for is some kind of a 3-Piece banjo band that opened with a kick ass cover of Sabotage by Black Sabbath! When I say banjo band, I just mean banjo in place of a guitar with a drummer and bass player laying down the rhythms, and with the bass player occasionally also stepping over to play keys positioned just right of centre of stage.
After a quick Google, I find out that the band are actually a hardcore outfit from the US of A. I haven’t seen any shadow boxers in the crowd yet, but this isn’t your typical kind of hardcore band, which brings me back to the banjo. It’s an electric one which is being run through a couple of Orange stacks with high-gain. It’s an interesting sound, and although not as thick as the sound of a six or more guitar, it’s still bloody heavy, a thrash metal tone kind of way.
Now, when the term Hardcore is used with this band, it must be defined in traditional hardcore terms. Not this new “hardcore” that is full of repetitive breakdowns and pop choruses. This probably explains why the pit is more of a traditional mess than an open area for people to swing their limbs like crashing helicopters. The tunes have much more of a punk vibe to them than a detuned metal edge.
Apart from his multicultural facial features, the vocalist and banjo player could be mistaken for a character out of Romper Stomper with his skinhead style fashion sense and shaven head. The bassist and drummer both look like straight-up metal heads that may have possibly joined the wrong band. Looks aside, they have their sound down tight, and as the show progresses, the keys start to take centre stage when used for electronic intros and noise interludes.
The banjo player eventually puts down the banjo and focuses on running and jumping around the stage screaming at people with mic in hand. Shortly after he rips his shirt off and the ladies cheer at the sight of inoffensive male nipples. “Thank you, Show Me the Body” he says as he drops the mic and walks offstage. Is this the end? It seems that way!
One more song, one more song, clap clap clap, clap clap clap … no more songs! This is a short review because that was a short set. 40 minutes to be exact, but I guess if you’ve done what you came here to do, there is no point sticking around!
