Scars on Broadway at Manchester Academy 2 (Live)
 

The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster may be tonight’s support band, but they conduct themselves like headliners, with a light show that puts Scars on Broadway to shame; apparently limitless amounts of energy and enthusiasm; and an easy confidence at performing in front of what is, presumably, quite a large crowd for them.

Frontman Guy McKnight’s unusually deep vocal style is custom-made to catch the attention of any causally-interested audience, as his voice cuts across their driving, stop-start prog and you can actually understand what he’s saying. It sees everyone paying just a little bit more attention to The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster.

The initially lukewarm crowd gradually warm to the Brighton five-piece and, as their set comes to an end and half the venue file towards the bar, there’s a tangible buzz and many enthusiastic words being passed around. The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster have definitely won a few new fans with tonight’s performance.

Headlining act Scars on Broadway is the second solo project to arise from System of a Down’s ashes. Last November, SOAD frontman Serj Tankian played a near sold-out show next door at the 2000 capacity Manchester Academy venue. Tonight, SOAD guitarist and co-vocalist Daron Malakian is playing a near sold-out show at the 800 capacity Academy 2.

While they may not yet warrant the Academy’s main room, it’s clear that this is the band who’ve managed to channel the devotion of the SOAD faithful. One particularly enthusiastic fan spends most of tonight’s set waving his crutches in the air, occasionally jabbing them towards the stage in time to the music, which is an unusual way of showing appreciation, but leaves no one in any doubt as to how much he’s enjoying himself.

The rest of the venue show their appreciation in more conventional ways: circle-pitting, singing along until you can barely hear the band and, when the opening riffs of the cartoonish and distinctly SOAD-sounding ‘Stoner-Hate’ kick in, cheering and clapping like this is the old, tried-and-tested live favourite they’ve been waiting all night for.

From the moment Malakian steps onstage, right up until SOAD drummer John Dolmayan steps out from behind his kit to throw his sticks into the audience, it seems Scars on Broadway can do no wrong. Although it’d be fair to say some of this fanaticism is due to the SOAD connection, every song is received with such enthusiasm, it’s clear people aren’t just here out of curiosity, or so they can brag about seeing members of System in such a small venue, but because they genuinely want to see Scars on Broadway.

Tonight’s show really draws attention to just how great their debut album is. There isn’t a bad song on the setlist, and many of them sound bigger and more ferocious live. The drum-heavy slant of ‘Chemicals’ emphasises the driving, demonic quality only subtly present on the recorded version, transforming this into a danceable slice of black-hearted prog; ‘3005’ elicits a stadium-sized clap-and-singalong; and the ricocheting vocals of ‘Stoner-Hate’ prove to be even more entertaining live.

As ever, there’s something decidedly uncool about Malakian’s performance; his glazed, pop-eyed detachment, and his habit of pointing and shaking his finger approximately once every thirty seconds for the entirety of the set - but this awkwardness actually makes him an oddly likable character, despite his refusal to do much more than play, sing and then, job done, exit the stage.

There’s very little to pick fault with, although ‘Cute Machines’ lacks some of the energy of the recorded version, for the simple reason that Malakian can’t sing “gogogogogogo” quite as fast as he does on record. The drums are also turned up slightly too high and, while this gives a handful of songs extra force (‘Chemicals’ ‘Exploding/Reloading’) they often drown out the rest of the band and, in particular, Malakian’s voice.

The major problem with a band where two of the members have such high profiles, is that the other band members are always going to be overlooked. This distinction is uncomfortably clear from the crowd’s reaction as Scars on Broadway file onstage, and how Malakian fails to introduce his band mates until the final song of the night. It does sour tonight’s performance, especially since Scars on Broadway are such a tight unit. Guitarist and backing vocalist Franky Perez actually puts in a far more enthusiastic and entertaining turn than Malakian, but it’s unlikely him, or the rest of the band, are ever going to get much recognition for their work in Scars on Broadway.

The fact that crowd dialogue is kept to an absolute minimum means that, fifty minutes in and tonight’s performance is already over, but that fifty minutes is crammed with impossibly-tight, no-nonsense prog genius.

So, the non-SOAD members of Scars on Broadway get a rough deal, and the drums are turned up slightly too high but, beyond that, it’s pretty much impossible to find anything wrong with Scars on Broadway’s performance. Impressively, despite the System of a Down connections, Scars on Broadway don’t feel like a side project, or a stop-gap, but a bona fide band in their own right.