I have to confess it has been many years since I saw STAIND and I wasn’t sure how many punters they were going to pull in on a cold Sunday night in Birmingham. As for SEETHER their heavy melodic rock sound managed to get them on the Download Festival last year, but I couldn’t see that many people getting that excited about it. Well not for the first time I was wrong! As a substantial queue greeted us upon arrival although you could still buy tickets on the door, it was clear once inside this was very nearly a sell out crowd.

We were through the doors only just in time to catch SEETHER come on, I wish venues could get people through the doors fast enough so they can actually see the bands they’ve paid to see, gripe over and it was clear to see that SEETHER are more than just the support getting a very loud applause as soon as they set foot on stage. Set opener ‘Gasoline’ reminded me of PUDDLE OF MUDD’s ‘Come Clean’ a bit whiney but satisfying none the less. After a brief respite back to the self pitying ‘Breckdown’, at this point I’m beginning to fashion a rudimentary noose out of my camera strap as the thought of an hour of this followed by an hour and a half of STAIND will push me over the edge. Thankfully the second half of the set contained their best material with ‘Rise Above This’ and ‘Fake It’ which got a particularly enthusiastic reaction from the crowd. I was surprised by ‘Remedy’ with a pleasing little touch of NIRVANA style grunge to it. A good set by one of the more interesting bands I’ve seen of late.

Next up was STAIND, which I saw last at the Apollo Manchester many moons ago were Arron Lewis came on and left without any crowd interaction and spent most of the set shoe gazing. So as long as the ever melancholy Arron could muster some personality I would go away satisfied. Like many, I imagine, I haven’t kept upto date with STAIND’s career, to say the least. From the set opener ‘Suffocate’ it’s fair to say their sound hasn’t progressed alot. Not being too cynical but it’s one of those bands that you just want to hear a couple of songs then bugger off to the pub *cough* ‘Its Been A While’ *cough* ‘Outside’. Its only right to give them a fair chance, but it’s evident Arron hasn’t gotten over his woes. With a truly manic guitarist Mike Mushok who seems to be listening to another band completely, Arron has developed slightly more personality to his performance. The new songs ‘Pardon Me’ and ‘Believe’ off their 2008 release ‘The Illusion of Progress’ show the band has found its niche and is well dug in. Which from the crowd reaction everyone is happy, in a way.

Ratings:

STAIND 3.4/5.0

Review and Photography by Alexander Shaw(click here)