Fightstar - Shepherds Bush Empire 31st October 2009 [Live]

November 2, 2009, 09:17 PM

Views: 234   Comments: 2

Either it's Halloween or Fightstar have morphed into Slipknot, with masks and jump-suits being the order of the day. The opening chords don't shed any light on the confusion either cos guess what, it's heavy. This is some thick stringed music. It's all a long way from "you know where" as Fightstar are still duking it out for hearts and minds, trying to convince us that they are "4 Real."

'The English Way' hits its mark early on with the excitable young crowd shrieking it back to the band right the way to where I'm perched at the bar, with their new single 'A City On Fire' being equally well received.

New track 'Chemical Blood' digs a lot deeper into the more metallic vein but Charlie & Co can't shed the melody no matter how hard they shred their guitars and larynx's. Is that such a bad thing though? Melody never hurt Paramore or 30 Seconds to Mars and like it or not, those guys are the competition.

Oh what a head shaking and a-hair whipping though! How does Charlie get that hair so perfect no matter how hard he rattles that pretty head of his? Believe me, he shakes the thing every three seconds as he tries to power chord us into submission and it's pretty entertaining to watch. Tunes like encore 'Death Cab' have some real catchy class about them too but occasionally Fightstar overreach in ambition and things unravel somewhat.

Fightstar really are a fairly admirable live band who are noticeably progressing, and they are a hell of a lot heavier than the uninitiated might think.

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