Upon entering the Robin the crowd was looking a bit thin of on ground with around 100 people in, I had expected more since seeing COMBICHRIST pull in nearly a full house in May, although I’ve no doubt the clash with MOTORHEAD and THE DAMNED playing just up the road took its toll.

After missing the first support completely DEVIANT UK where up next. Having seen them a few times now they seem to grow on you, the music stands up on its self but live with Jay Smith bounding round making the Robin’s stage look a bit small and Mark Bartholomew on drums pounding out industrial beat with a punk arrogance, they are in their element. DEVIANT UK produce a professional finish to their live performance which is no doubt due to a relentless tour schedule.

This is the first time I’ve encountered INFORMATIK which is in itself unsurprising as they hail from California, you can’t help but feel for bands that travel half way round the world to play to 100 people. Rant over! First off I had no idea what to expect of the dark future-pop, it sounded to me like a collaboration between Trent Reznor and Nick Holmes. As expected they played a few tracks from their latest album Arena, with ‘Come Together’ off the aforementioned album being one of the strongest songs in the set. Then back to more familiar territory with ‘Saints and Sinners’ that got the crowd moving again. Hearing old and new songs back to back you get the feel of a real divergence in their music, making them an exciting band to listen to.

If the crowd was a bit subdued for INFORMATIK, as soon as front man Mark Hockings stepped onstage the Robin came alive. From the opening song ‘If We Stay Here’, the opening track of their new album A Perfect Solution, Mark shows his credential’s as a captivating performer drawing the crowd into the performance. The third song ‘Leaves You Nothing’ with its unashamedly self-indulgent sing along chorus is held together by powerful lyrics sung with tangible emotion in Mark’s vocals something that is and always will be the reason seeing a band perform live will never lose its appeal.

MESH have created a sound that is instantly recognisable through-out their songs but at the same time doesn’t make them feel too generic. Even with a long set there’s not really any weak songs to pad it out. For myself it’s their slower songs that make them stand out as a band, ‘Can you Mend Hearts’ and ‘It Scares Me’ are a master class in emotive song writing which are lapped up by the audience.

Ending the set on ‘Everything I made’ but with the cries for an encore before they had left the stage, they were soon back determined to end on a high note. The last song ‘Friends like These’ got the dance floor moving one more time, while photos of the crowd taken earlier in the night scrolled on the monitors on either side of the stage, thankfully I missed that dubious honour!

Ratings:

Review and Photos by Alex Shaw(Photos Click Here)