In the wake of the current nu metal revival (and some well timed album anniversaries), Thanet locals once again dusted off their Jnco’s and set out to Margate’s very own Dreamland for an evening of Titantron friendly anthems, courtesy of həd(p.e), Spineshank and Drowning Pool, in this co-headlining tour.
With a mostly sold out set of dates across the United Kingdom and Ireland that already had been met with some teething issues (from ferry delays to passport complications), this evenings’ showcase of angst-ridden anthems were met with high anticipation judging by the turnout. Having been over a decade since the last local Drowning Pool show (and over two since the last Spineshank UK performance), the room quickly began to fill out in preparation for the first throwback of the evening.
həd(p.e)
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Packed with a career spanning show reel of a set, (running tracks from their first six albums), the Californian rap rock quartet, still fronted by the overtly charismatic Jared Gomes, swiftly gets the crowd warmed up and rowdy. With a surprisingly eclectic mix of influences, tracks like the debut single ‘Bartender’ from 2000’s album Broke, and ‘Renegade’ from 2009’s New World Orphans were quick to bump up the energy of the room. Complete with Cheshire cat grins, thick bass grooves, and a promise from Gomes of ‘cutting off the sleeves myself’ to all those who wanted to come and chill after a friendly merchandise purchase, it was clear that həd(p.e) were pleasantly surprised with the energy and response from the room.
Spineshank
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Up next and celebrating twenty-five years of their sophomore album The Height of Callousness are our first headliner Spineshank. Taking to the stage under a banner of fractal pulses featuring the albums animated cover, and opening on lead single ‘Synthetic’, the group leapt into playing the record in full to mark the milestone.
Fortunately for tonight’s audience, frontman Jonny Santos is in fact able to join in person for the performance. Unfortunately for Santos, he has to do so whilst wrestling with a recent bout of bronchitis. This seemingly doesn’t dampen his enthusiasm throughout, encouraging the crowd to help out with the more melodic passages (of which were understandably a little strained) in crowd pleasers such as ‘New Disease’, as well as routinely beckoning for wave upon wave of potential crowd surfers. Amidst being slammed with the high gain guitar riffs and karaoke requests, the energy of the room remains high, with the mosh-pitter’s barely pausing for breath in between songs.
Sleeper tracks like ‘Transparent’ hit like a juggernaut, complete with Santos’ visceral low growls, and laced with deafening industrial backing track synths. After signing off the record run through with title track ‘The Height of Callousness’, an encore of cherry picked favourites from their third album Self Destructive Pattern rounds off the performance.
Drowning Pool
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Last but by no means least are the arguably infamous Drowning Pool. Complete with a cheeky southern drawl, and enough Wah pedal effects to get the attention of Kirk Hammett, the Dallas hard rockers operate like a well-oiled machine, backlit with frantic strobes and icy hues. The pull is almost magnetic, kicking off the set with hit single ‘Sinner’ from the debut album under the same name. The semi recent return of Soil vocalist Ryan McCombs is evidently a welcome one, as the group ebb and flow through the set with an air of confident familiarity. The set itself touched upon tracks from each of the albums McCombs personally worked on (such as ’37 Stitches’, from Full Circle, and ‘Feel Like I Do’ from Drowning Pool), as well as a Billy Idol cover, but unsurprisingly, the fan favourites featured on Sinner did most of the heavy lifting.
Upon queuing up ‘Tear Away’, McCombs motioned for the stage and house lights to be fully dimmed before launching into the drop, while the inevitable curtain call of ‘Bodies’ brought everyone out onto the stage for a good ol fashioned shout-a-long.
While the evening itself had plenty of imperfections throughout, it was undeniable the message of the night was the importance of community. In addressing the crowd, Santos reminisced over the bands of the evening’s lineup growing up together as brotherhood. Passing career milestones and celebrating successes, listing examples such as performing Ozzfest together for the first time, to Spineshank’s drummer Tommy Decker’s own son now touring with them as their second guitarist. Even members of Nonpoint were name dropped in being in attendance to support the show, despite not being billed to perform.
Absence may make the heart grow fonder, and in the case of our co-headliners, there are clearly still plenty of people itching for that trip down memory lane. With any luck it wont be another ten years until the next UK tour.