News / / 18.12.12

Iceage

THE CROFT, BRISTOL |November 28th

Over the last few years, Iceage have glared hard into the eyes of everyone who has dared cross them. They’re notoriously antagonistic towards the press, controversial in droves and snottier than a K-head’s waste paper bin. We’re expecting big things tonight, and if they fail to deliver, then that will really suck.

Denmark’s gnarliest are supported tonight by Welsh up and comers Chain of Flowers, who flit through an excellent set which gets the crowd moving. They fill the stage with swagger, looking like a bunch of army brats who’ve been watching Taking Back Sunday videos circa 2001. In the best possible way.

Iceage are up next. Let us just ruin the surprise, they’re fucking tame. Hate to make this about expectations and novelty but really, there isn’t a single blood nose or black eye in the house, just a bunch of bored teenagers in dodgy leather playing their songs very competently. Singer Elias looks unimpressed, and the rest of the band don’t even seem to know they’re in the room. They plunder through material from their forthcoming album You’re Nothing and while excellent new songs like Ecstasy and Morals sound full of explosive potential, tonight they’re performed with no real clamour. The classics from New Brigade get an airing, and Broken Bone sounds almost great, but they’re still not quite packing the punch. You see, they’re so unexciting in that they’ve left us having to resort to using turgid metaphors to describe the gig.

Although there’s still every chance that You’re Nothing could be one of the greatest punk records of 2013, Iceage’s shoddy performance really smacked of a band who feel they have nothing left to prove. But at such an early point in their career, it’s not safe to say anything of the sort just yet.

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Words: Billy Black

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