DJ Jona/DJ Kim/No Signal Input/In A Furious Deathbed @ East Durham College

Freaky Weasel Promotions Presents
No Signal Input, In a Furious Death Bed
Friday 12th September
East Durham College

When you go to a local gig, you think its going to be some half-arsed show with cheap drinks. You know the kind where you turn up and no one really knows what’s going on, and the band are still sound-checking after your 8th pint?

I got asked to photograph this event for Freaky Weasel Promotions, and what I was presented with wasn’t quite what you’d usually see at a local gig. I walked into the main theatre to be greeted with ample floor space, a large stage, professional lights, a big PA and crew everywhere sorting it all out. I was quite impressed, the organisational side of things was brilliant.

But you’re not interested in that, I’m sure.

Before the bands started the crowd (who had a nice bar next door) were greeted with a flawless DJ set from DJ Jonathan Cave, who had some great mixing and beat matching - couple that with some great tunes and you have a brilliant opening DJ. Following DJ Jona was DJ Kim, who continued the warming up of the crowd to boiling point before the first band.

No Signal Input started the night with an explosive blend of metal and rap, which - as much as it sounds - isn’t at all like Linkin Park. Think Rage Against the Machine sized riffs, System of a Down verse guitar and the good parts of Limp Bizkit and you have it. A band such as No Signal Input rely on crowd response and interaction, which is evident tonight as they call for more dancing and more mosh pits constantly. Luckily for them the crowd is in the mood for a good flying headbutt into the person next to them and respond with a flurry of arms, legs and teeth.

Stepping back for a minute, I realised that this is more than just a local gig. This is a local event, professionally put together and expertly executed. The crowd seems fairly regular, a core group of people who are there all the time and then people who are there for certain bands, a crowd easily 300 - 400 strong is impossible to gather at small local gigs usually! Maybe I should stop comparing it to local gigs and more professional sized gigs and venues?

Following NSI was another DJ set from Kim, featuring the all-time crowd favourite band, Pendulum and the all-time ‘rebellious’ favourite, Mindless Self Indulgence.

In A Furious Deathbed were up next, throwing out screaming vocals and thrashy guitars. Not really my kind of music, but they were good at what they did. The guitar riffs followed traditional rules of grindcore, but the bass followed a different set of rules - which sets this band apart. Instead of having the bassist simply thrash away at the instrument as if he was just another guitar, it was used to lay down a seriously brilliant bass ‘bed’ under everything with interesting rhythms. Throughout the set, however, I was entranced by how amazing the drummer’s dreads were. The low-point of the set, unfortunately for the band, was that they seemed to get a bit carried away, and preached to the crowd that they should “watch out for each other in the pit, help each other out, help the person next to you” and so on as if they were headlining the mainstage at Leeds festival and telling 50,000 people not to headbutt each other so harshly - but in reality, they were addressing 10 to 15 people, who were probably too drunk to listen anyway.

And to end the night… fire alarm! Never have I seen a building empty so fast…

DJ Jona

DJ Kim

No Signal Input

In A Furious Deathbed

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