LATEST NEWS // 15 FEBRUARY 2007

FAREWELL SHOW REVIEW

Next to the stage, the headliners. Eight year veterans to the Leeds music scene, and the main draw of the evening. With the knowledge that this will be their last gig ever Nerve Engine step up with hundreds eager fans waiting to lap up their final offering of aggression-fuelled metal. With melodic, yet powerful riffs and hooks, they are certainly in some way Yorkshires answer to Metallica, yet with the aggression and passion of Pantera so obvious in their sound it's obvious where their influences lie...

Applause fills the room as they take to the stage instantly jumping into action, guitarists Mark Burrows and Dave Diley are fiercely animated, each taking turns with bass player Iain Hodges to scale the full front of the stage as they rip into their first offering, 'And Now we Stand', singer Kriss Allen with uncharacteristically sheared locks gestures to the crowd to move forward, to which they happily oblige. Already at this stage there was a clear line of headbanging metalheads running the full length of the first few rows of the seething crowd. You can tell by the faces in the audience the band are delivering a top class and well rehearsed performance, and this is what it's all about. As the gig unfolds, the energy of Kris' performance grows with each song, ripping through Engine classics such as 'Winter's Here', 'Once', and a fantastic version of 'Tighten my Grip', with sections sung by the whole band that were welcomed with massive appreciation and repeating chants from the audience.

Throughout the performance, despite the knowledge this was the last time we would ever see this band perform, the set from start to finish was one that I would more likely associate with an up and coming band rather than one that even says themselves they feel this is as far as they can go with the band. As they rips into their best known song, and possibly greatest achievement, 'Never See Me Fall' with the angst and energy of any top flight metal act, I'm both overwhelmed and a little bit saddened that this may well be the last time I ever see this song, which all in all epitomises the drive and attitude that Leeds has come to love with Nerve Engine over the past eight years. With a final swan song in the form of 'One Chance / Get Made', with its immensely powerful build up, as the set solos out and finishes with drummer Andy Richards anchoring a huge crash ending.

I'm left feeling this was a band that I really wish I could have seen more from They were superb, and inspiring to any aspiring young musicians in the crowd.

With a final roll of the drums and a look of contentment on their faces the band falls back on what can only be described as a set far bigger than they ever became, Kris leaves us with one line. "Thanks for being there for us, and enjoy Rock Of Ages."

Of course, we happily obliged.

Leeds Music Scene

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