What kind of idiot buys a ticket to see a band he doesn’t actually like? This kind of idiot that’s who! I saw CKY earlier this year supporting one of my faves Skindred and to be perfectly honest their performance bored me rigid. They are very good at what they do, but that thing they do just doesn’t appeal to me at all. So when they announced a headline tour of their own I initially had no intention of attending, until I noticed who one of the support acts were.
Opening act of the night Bullets And Octane (5) peddle a decent enough brand of whiskey-soaked hard rock which seemed to go down well with the small but growing crowd that had arrived at the venue early. The highlight of their set for me saw most of the band (except the drummer for obvious reasons) relocating their instruments and mics into the crowd for a raucous finale of Bad Motherfucker. Their type of music doesn’t particularly appeal to me either, but as a spectacle their performance on the night got things off to an enjoyable enough start.
My enjoyment level was about to be ramped up as the band I had come to see – Sumo Cyco (10) were up next. As a frontwoman Skye “Sever” Sweetnam is a fizzing ball of energy and charisma who commanded the audience’s attention expertly here. That’s not to say that the rest of the band (Skye’s partner Matt “MD13” Drake on guitar, drummer Matt Trozzi and new addition bassist Oscar) are slouches but it’s difficult to focus on anyone other than Skye during a show such is her stage presence. Highlights of their nine song set included a storming cover of System Of A Down’s Bring Your Own Bombs, Skye taking a tour of the venue (and the bar!) during a song and finally Skye – with a little help from the crowd – scaling the venue’s balcony (from where Skindred bassist Dan Pugsley was watching as he is a fellow fan of the band) during set closer Fighter.
Following their set Skye headed to the merch desk where she spent the rest of the night selling, signing, posing for photos, drinking just about everything and just generally connecting and hanging with the fans as the rest of band also came and went at various points to do the same. Judging by the amount it looked like they were selling I think it’s a safe bet to say that the ever-expanding Cyco family gained quite a few new members on this boat. Whilst I was hanging around the merch desk chatting, CKY apparently played a set. Now look – a band having an off night is one thing, but I’ve always thought it best to say nothing about a band that I simply don’t like rather than slag them off just because they don’t appeal to my tastes. With that in mind I’m going to abruptly end this review right he-
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