SLAVES, THE BULLINGDON, OXFORD, 05TH SEPTEMBER (LIVE)

Fame is a funny concept, many exposed to its venomous grasp are crippled to their knees and subdued to its temptress like qualities. Once in a blue moon you see an entity overcome this alluring enigma and deal with its somewhat subsequent arrogance in humble fashion. We sympathise in some cases, after all fame and fortune is a taste of the finer side of life and many who excel to its sunny pastures know all too well the stress and occasional despair of normality. This seductive paradox can all too easily lead one to forget their roots, the backbone to their success and the reason they made it so far in the first place. As is the case with bands/ musicians, the fans are this structural backbone to success. Granted talent is a mandatory prerequisite for any form of achievement but without the fans loyal support bands would be doomed to rot in local pubs and village fairs. So of course, enjoy success and revel in the prosperity of your well-deserved graft but remember to remain grounded throughout and give back to the people who stuck by your journey each step of the way.

For those yet to hear, Slaves kicked off their latest quirky endeavour last Monday. The ‘Back in the Van’ tour, sees them head round the UK visiting several of the best small venues across our great nation. Having rocketed to fame since the release of their debut album ‘Are You Satisfied?’ in June 2015, the Kent boys have been on an unstoppable rampage. Selling out Brixton Academy on a school night and most recently playing Reading & Leeds festival’s mainstage. Despite this, unquestionably deserved, success they remain well grounded gentlemen and their message is even more commendable. They pride themselves on being men of the working class public, with an array of lyrics that call to question the countries ‘corrupt’ social hierarchy. One of their latest songs ‘Rich Man’ is tribute to this message. The tour announcement came as no surprise to many. Heading back to ‘where it all began’, touring in the back of a clio van and heading to some of the UK’s smallest venues sounds like a praiseworthy gesture typical of their bodacious personalities . It just further endorses what we all knew anyway. They are proper decent chaps! Oh and tickets for the tour were £1.99 a pop!

Okay, okay, okay, of course some of you grouches out there will call to question how hard it was to get tickets and incessantly moan at the fact you had to pre-order the album to access the ticket sales. But let’s be frank here, if you love the band you should support them by buying records anyway so build a bridge and drag yourself the fuck over it! Let’s talk about the setting. The Bullingdon, on Oxford’s diverse Cowley Road, is everything you can expect from a pokey, intimate venue. It had cheap beer, sticky floors and LOUD music. You’re so close to the stage you can almost smell the bands Lynx Africa failing to do its job. If the term sweatbox ever had a better opportunity to step up and be used this would be it. It was like a fucking sauna in there, the ceiling even started to drip sweat. You could see the steam rising in a hazy fog of booze and testosterone. The mosh-pit was another ball game entirely, tighter than George Michael’s spandex leggings there was barely room to move let alone breath.

Their new mates Estrons provided the evenings support, a great opportunity for them to gain some vital exposure and they done themselves proud on the night that’s for sure. Out stormed Isaac and Laurie at about 9pm with the three stripe red shorts on, shirt off ready to do the dirty. They didn’t pussy-foot about banging straight into one of their earliest masterpieces ‘Nervous Energy’, one we’ve been dying to hear live since the dawn of time. What better opportunity for them to lash out with some of their pre Virgin EMI material and catapult themselves back nostalgically to where it all begun. The voyage into their decorated past didn’t stop their either, ‘Suicide’ from their 2013 ‘Sugar Coated Bitter Truth’ EP was up next. Another fucking incredible track, by the time they were done with these two songs the whole room had turned into a raucous mosh. It was brutal. People were manically reaching for their phones, ringing home to tell their mothers they love them in the off chance they may not return from the event.

They seem far more confident and self assured now than when we first saw them back at Scala in 2015. Their showmanship has evidently been worked on, they continuously converse with the crowd. One guy in the sea of bodies was a serial ‘between song crowd surfer’, he kept getting up when no music was on. They picked up on this and kept a reference of him throughout the night throwing banter back and forth and even dedicating a song to him. Later on they raised awareness to a certain travesty. One we can’t believe they’ve been subjected too in all their touring glory. They have never had a naked crowd surfer at one of their gigs. Awful isn’t it? Almost worthy of opening up a charity helpline to raise money for the cause. Bringing this up was like throwing meat to the lions though really wasn’t it? Someone in the crowd was bound to get their kit off. Turns out our infamous crowd surfer was the one to do the dirty, he wacked his kit off and jumped around like a possessed football streaker. I don’t think anyone was keen to get him up crowd surfing though. Copping a handful of sweaty naked arse crack is probably not high on the agenda for most people’s evenings but 10/10 for effort chap!

The rest of the set was chock-a-block with hits like ‘Hey’, ‘White Knuckle Ride’, ‘Sockets’, ‘Beauty Quest’ and ‘The Hunter. They squeezed a few new tracks in amongst the massacre playing ‘Spit It Out’ and ‘Rich Man’. Their new album ‘Take Control is out at the end of the month on 30th September so make sure you grab yourselves a copy or head down to their Autumn UK tour to liberate some of that executive stress you’ve been compiling. Our next Slaves gig will be on the continent in November when we head over to Hamburg for the weekend keep your eyes open on our Instagram and Twitter pages for images and reviews of that. In the meantime rock out with your cock is the morale of the story I guess…