The Slaves – Down At The Front

The Slaves at the Horn

Paul Hudson — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 22:35:46 +0000

Who’d have thought it? The Slaves playing the Horn! Well, I would, because they played here before. But it’s unusual for such a popular band to go back and play small venues. But to celebrate the release of their new album that’s just what they did and it only cost £1! Obviously, tickets were hard to come by and there were lots of complaints from people who showed no interest the first time around. But it was great to see the Horn buzzing with the excitement of a big band returning to an old haunt. Obviously, the Slaves put on a fantastic show and the crowd loved it.

The Slaves

Paul Hudson — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 23:32:15 +0000

I first saw the Slaves play in St Albans to a tiny crowd. They impressed me but I wasn’t sure what image they were trying to portray and if they were serious. I bought their self-produced album that evening and listened to it pretty constantly over the next few weeks. Lots of short energetic songs that had no pretence. Songs written to jump around to. Let’s face it, sometimes, that’s enough.

Wind on two years and after many storming festival sets, the release of their first album and Radio 1 airplay, the band are now a different proposition. Clearly they are much bigger than a tiny room in St Albans. Tonight’s gig proved that. Playing a sell-out Kentish Town Forum, the two lads are in no way phased by their top of the bill status. Showing the same attitude they showed in St Albans, they had the crowd bouncing right from the off with a very high energy set that left the crowd wanting more.

Support on the evening was from Spring King and Wonk Unit.

Wonk Unit

Spring King

The Slaves at the Horn

Paul Hudson — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 22:27:16 +0000

So a ‘random’ tonight. With a strike on in London, I thought it best to ditch any ideas of going in and decided to head over to the Horn in St Albans to see The Slaves.

The evening started with two St Albans bands. First Brocker, a three piece who play fairly straight forward rock music. There was nothing particularly wrong with it. They just didn’t grab me.

Brocker

Next up was another three piece, The Zipheads. Playing rockabilly inspired music. They seemed an odd bunch. A double bass player, guitarist and drummer. Not an unusual setup for a rockabilly type band. But the drummer appeared to be from a completely different band. He looked like he’s escaped from a skate rock band. I kind of enjoyed them. They had a good mix of music but they often seemed to be missing something. I think they probably could have done with a rhythm guitarist who could lay down a simple rockabilly riff to keep everything anchored. Don’t get me wrong. They weren’t a bad band. I did enjoy them. I couldn’t get rid of the thought that something was missing.

The Zipheads

Closing up the evening were The Slaves. They describe themselves as a ‘garage punk band’. Basically they’re two guys with lots of short 2 minute songs and masses of energy. What helps them stand out from the current fad of two musician bands, is that the drummer plays standing up and is also the lead vocalist. Dressed like an extra from ‘This is England’, they also carried a lot of (tongue-in-cheek) attitude, berating the crowd for talking through their set and chastising the crowd for not moving forward, etc. I thought it all added to their set. But I’m sure others might find it all very annoying. But hopefully, they’d still see two lads just ‘going for it’ and I personally thought it was a great set.

The Slaves