SLAVES 'SUGAR COATED BITTER TRUTH' FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY GIG, TUNBRIDGE WELLS FORUM LIVE REV

It’s been five whole years since the release of that earth shattering debut mini album from Slaves. ‘Sugar Coated Bitter Truth’ was a, no nonsense, balls to the wall statement of intent by two likely lads from the sunny pastures of Kent. These two brothers in arms, have resurrected punk rock from its rotting coffin and back into the public eye. Since this glorious debut they’ve gone on to release two worldie albums, headline huge stages and pretty much conquer the UK rock music scene. Success is in their blood. They’ve achieved so much in this relatively short space of time so it’s fitting that they take this opportunity to stand still and look back at all they’ve accomplished so far on their wild journey and what better way to do it then take us fans back to where it all began.

In Slaves early era they spent a lot of time playing hometown shows at their beloved Tunbridge Wells Forum. A fantastic salt of the earth independent venue with bucket loads of history and character! Despite having heard a lot about the venue it was our first visit to the gaff. There hasn’t been a gig yet that has really managed to pull us out of London in that direction…… until now. Upon approach, it looks like nothing more than a local youth centre. Situated on the edge of a grassy park littered with young reprobates, dog ends and empty cans of fosters it felt like we were about to be invited in for a 'soul searching' cup of tea, custard cream and game of swing ball. We got in and waded through the thick crowd over to the bar, it was very much as we expected! Rammed to the brim with delightful people all congregated into one intimate setting for mutual appreciation of an idolised musical stigma. What could be better?

I have a real deep love for their first album, so for me this gig was truly un-missable. When else would we get the opportunity to see SCBT played through in full from start to finish?! Tickets were run through a balloting system via Dice FM. You had to apply on the app and then endure a gruelling wait to see if your futile attempts were successful or not. Squeaky bum time! They rarely ever play tracks from this album, they rotate a select few in various setlists like ‘Nervous Energy’, ‘How’s Amelia’, ‘Suicide’ and of course ‘Beauty Quest’ is a staple encore track but really their inclusions are usually sparse. We couldn’t wait to experience tracks like ‘Cease Fire’ and ‘Wishing Well’ live. SCBT had such a raw and aggressive feel to it that would surely resonate so well in a live setting. And we weren’t wrong!

There was a pungent aroma of nostalgia wafting around as soon as they hit the stage. Various pauses throughout the set were filled with emotional monologues and stories of the past as both Isaac and Laurie approached the evening in a laid back, cool as a cucumber, manner. It was an evening to enjoy, not only for us as fans but for them aswell. They definitely deserve it! The night went by in what felt like a lightning flash, we blasted all the way from Cease Fire to Beauty Quest in no time at all. The visceral prowess of their juvenile debut album was astounding! It’s raw punk in its truest; most honest form. Vacant stares drifted around the room after the final note of their rampant classic ‘Beauty Quest’, where were they going to go from here? Surely the set was not to come to such an abrupt and premature end? Of course not, they teased for a few moments before asking the crowd if they were familiar with the albums extended edition. We had three more tracks! Many bodies in the sea of sweat were calling out for Hunter to be played, but a select few knew they had a few more tricks up their sleeves yet. The moshpit was absolute carnage throughout, but it soon descending into pure chaos with the introduction of old classics ‘Nervous Energy’ and ‘How’s Amelia?’. People were being launched sky high on top of the compact heard of bodies; space was being cleared for synchronised collisions. One things for sure it was a bloody good workout! Sack off your bollocks Zumba classes and get yourself into a few moshpits each week, trust me. You don’t need any pricey ‘Body Coach’ books to tell you that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvRY5i8sWsk

As always their set was bursting with energy and power. There really is nothing else like it to get the blood pumping round your body! On the performance front it was business as usual for the Kent lads, they give it all they’ve got at every show. Full throttle blood, sweat, tears and passion they’re also not strangers to the odd heckle or two. It’s a trademark factor of their rise to fame which even became a muse for one of their tracks, I’m sure you can all guess which one we’re talking about. They moved on from the S.C.B.T era and into some newer tracks with ‘Where’s Your Car Debbie?’, ‘Hey’ and the aforementioned ‘Fuck The Hi-Hat’. Now sure they may have been heckled a fair bit back in the day, in small venues with uninterested onlookers but we wouldn’t expect it five years down the line with the following they’ve acquired. Sure as hell though there was one fucking lemon in the crowd who just had to have his five minutes of fame……. what a bellend! A big part of the Slaves live experience is the story telling between tracks, it builds suspense and anticipation. But of course every gig has a token twat and this one suffered a humiliating backlash. The exchange between him and Laurie did get fairly heated with a call for him to leave the venue at one point and other loyal fans around getting reasonably agitated. Being the saint he is though, Laurie opted for the ‘higher ground’ approach and said he didn’t want to force the gob shite to leave. I’m pretty sure I saw him get his comeuppance in the moshpit though. You know what they say, karma, all is fair in love and war, what goes around come around and all that lark.

We wouldn’t say we’re addicted to Slaves but we’d probably be labelled as having a reasonably unhealthy obsession with their music. We’ve been to see them a concerning amount of times over the years. But do you know what…… it never gets old! Each gig is as good as its previous if not better. So, sure, we may go a little overboard with the Slaves gigs from time to time but it’s all worth it in the end. After witnessing them tear the roof off of Tunbridge Wells Forum, we had to leave swiftly to execute a carefully engineered return home. We were heading to Truck Festival on the Friday and hadn’t even started packing yet! Who was playing the mainstage on the first day of Truck Festival? That’s right twice in two days, we ought to be given a restraining order at this rate. It’s compelling to see just how much Slaves sets can change from place to place. Each is so independent from the other. Environment and circumstance play such a big part in the experience, as it does with many other bands. We got to catch them twice in the space of 24 hours in completely polar opposite scenarios. One, a tiny independent venue the size of a semi-detached house; the other a huge mainstage at one of the UK’s most upcoming music festivals. It was surreal to say the least.

There was a lot of filming being done throughout the course of the evening and we’ve heard several rumours across the worldwide web (which is always such a reputable source) that the gig was being recorded for the purposes of a Live Album and DVD release at some point. Keep your eyes out for more information on that. Nothing concrete has been mentioned yet, there was a teaser video today on Slaves social media pages but it doesn’t actually tell us anything. Surely there’s something going on in the background though, none of the footage has been released or used yet so they must be working on something. Fingers crossed people!!