|
|
These rock comebacks can go one of two ways. Either you churn out some stuff which reassures your fanbase that you've still got it and take the charts by storm (see the Wildhearts) or you make a disappointing comeback album which doesn't sell and find yourselves back on the scrapheap again (see the Almighty).
So where does this leave 3 Colours Red? The answer, on tonight's evidence is that it could go either way. But more on that later. First up, openers Fake Ideal prove that most rare among new bands - a group who've actually got a bit of charisma, trying valiantly to get the 20 or so souls who aren't propping up the bar to sing along with the choruses of their songs. It doesn't really work but you've got to applaud them for trying. Their set isn't too bad either - sure, a bit of fine-tuning's needed here and there but you can potentially see them going a fair way.
It takes a while for 3 Colours Red to warm up tonight - they crash in with an unusually tame version of "This Is My Hollywood" but by track three, a ferocious version of "Nerve Gas", they're in full throttle and the crowd of diehards are loving it.
The old stuff - "Sunny In England", "Paranoid People", "Pirouette", "Copper Girl", a ferocious finale of "Nuclear Holiday" you know about already and yes, it still rocks. The newer stuff is heavier by comparison with new single "Repeat To Fade" being the pick of the bunch, powered along by a brutal riff from Chris McCormack and Pete Vuckovic (who now looks uncannily like Crazytown's Shifty Shellshock minus the bleach)'s scowling vocals. The other newies vary from competent enough ("Made In Indonesia") through passable ("The World Is Yours") to rather poor frankly ("Fcuk").
The real acid test for 3 Colours Red will come when "Repeat To Fade" gets its single release in a couple of weeks. But this was a promising enough start.
Reviewed by Andy James
