Three band bill rocks Manchester

On a busy night in Manchester (Thunder are playing to a packed house in Academy 1 tonight) the Soil/American Head Charge/Panic Cell mega tour rolls into town. Probably one of the hottest and most anticipated tours in the UK at the moment - even Bauhaus tried (unsuccessfully!) to get into the show in Glasgow.

The hall is half full and filling steadily – as Panic Cell erupt onto the stage making their Manchester debut, this has been a bit of a “bogey town” for these Kent boys, who have had several high profile tours with dates here fall apart on them. But tonight everything goes to plan and they are ready to deliver their ruthless onslaught to Manchester. The opener is a ‘yet to be titled’ new song, and the fans are loving it, vigorous bouncing in approval and the first suggestions of a mosh pit are fulfilled when they go into “Save Me”. On more familiar ground, the crowd sings along with gusto and whip up a frenzy. “Our first time here, and we have pits and everything!” beams the Mohican topped singer Luke Bell. ‘Forced down’, (another new song from the upcoming album). sees Bobby Town in his zone and working his bass like a demon possessed as he snarls down at the crowd. Guitarists Kelly Downes and Hedgey shred maniacally and compliment the grinding bass lines to perfection. Trademark chugging riffs drive “Bitter Part Of Me” along with drummer Lee Turner steering with a thunderous double bass kick, hair flying wildly and arms a blur. “Fallen” is yet another new one, and the set is rounded off with “Away From Here” reaching a crescendo as Luke thanks the now nearly full and amped up crowd for their reception first time around. I don’t think this is the last Manchester will see of Da Cell…thankfully.

The hall is rammed in anticipation for American Head Charge. Singer Martin Cock wanders onto the stage from the barrier at the front, taking pictures of the throng at the front as he goes. Bounding onto stage the band go from a standing start to full speed ahead and the incendiary reaction of the thronging masses sees crowd surfers going over the barrier from the off. Martin jumps into the crowd and bass player Chad Hanks grins from ear to ear, not dropping a beat as he shakes the hand of everyone who is propelled over the barrier. “It’s great to be back in Manchester!” chuckles Martin, back on stage and seemingly over flowing with energy. Guitarist Benjii Hellberg and Keyboard player Justin Fouler duel furiously as the set blasts through “All Wrapped Up”, “Broken” and crowd pleaser “Dirty”. It’s not overly apparent that they are a member down, Karma Cheema having departed the fold late last year and Benjii shreds like a man possessed to make up for the dual duties he has to perform on this tour. Rounded off with the drum kit punishment dished out by the ever beaming Chris Emery, they have a sound that makes Marilyn Manson seem like a banjo player in make-up. American Head Charge play high octane ‘dirty’ metal which does battle with low frequency effects that threaten to loosen your bowels and rip your head off. “Dirty, Dirty, D-D-Dirty” goes the song, and they are just that. Tonight they seem especially animated though, Martin joking about the number of scarves he’s had thrown at him this tour. “I’ll try not to catch a cold!” he laughs. He even takes a huge plunge off the speaker stacks – twice, once for each side, declaring that “it looks like Manchester have my back!”. “Just So You Know” has both audience and band reaching a new level of intensity before things are brought back down a bit with “Downstream”. The mellow mood doesn’t last long, and the set is rounded off with “A Violent Reaction”, “Loyalty” and “Seamless” - .Loyality seeing Martin crowd surfing for the majority of the song. Manchester proves conclusively that it loves American Head Charge, and I doubt it will be as long as four years before they return this time.

The problem faced by Soil is how to follow that. Some of the audience decide that they don’t want to find out and file out of the room exhausted, but most of those that remain are the faithful. A huge cheer greets new frontman A J Cavalier who has big boots to fill. Fortunately he has big feet, and stamps his mark with confidence and clarity. He sings the older material in a manner that does justice to the original performance whilst injecting things with his own style. Storming on with “Cross My Heart” they form a solid unit, guitarists Adam Zadel and Shaun Glass confidently rocking out while the rhythm section of Tim King and Tom Schofield (bass and drums respectively) keep things ticking along nicely. “Fight For Life” introduces the new material, and is well received having been available as a download from their website. Other new tracks receive a more subdued reception, though things get amped up again every time old favourites are brought out and given a dust off. The news that the UK release of the album (on 27th March we are reminded several times) will be before the US release brings a huge cheer. A well oiled moshing machine, old favourites such as “My Own”, “Unreal” and “Breaking Me Down” force the die hards at the front into a frenzy and by the time the set is rounded off with “Redefine” and “Black 7” AJ has acquired a bra from somewhere! Maybe not as practical for him as Martin Cock’s scarf, but probably much more satisfying. “Do you guys want one more?” he drawls, and the crowd go a bit nuts for a storming rendition of “Halo”, especially when Panic Cell vocalist Luke is hauled onto the stage and proves himself with the big boys, his voice blending in perfectly with AJ’s and obviously relishing the chance to perform such a classic song with the band.

If all tours were as good as this, people would be buying season tickets to their favourite venues.