Sometimes all a man needs is riffs, after a fucker of a day, the short jaunt to Swansea was exactly what was needed to get said riffs. Currently on their Heavy To The Max Tour, and fresh off supporting Orange Goblin, the two co-headliners are travelling the length and breath of the UK with a big bag of riffs wherever they go.
The Swansea date was more interesting to me over the Bristol one, purely for timing but also it featured Swansea's heavy rockers Sigirya (8) who know how to get a party started with some big bouncing Sabbath heaviness as they shot through oldies such as Whiskey Song and newbies like Lil Rager, which is exactly that, boding well for any new music that is released. Matt Williams vocals are dynamic and his stage presence excellent even on the compact stage of the Bunkhouse, while the stoic figure of Paul "Mead" Bidmead cranked out low end grooves against the percussion power of Rhys David Miles. Of course the guitars of Stuart O'Hara are woozy and fuzz-laden cascading well on the final two atmospheric closing numbers Deathtrip To Eryri and Freedom Engines. 30 minutes done and dusted to a appreciative, fairly decent Tuesday audience as the stresses slipped away into a pint of beer and lots of heavy stoner rocking.
I say stoner but Norwegian band Slomosa (8) brought some doom, goth and even shoegaze to the night with their eclectic Nordic heaviness. Driven by tracks such as Kevin their set veered towards the smoke filled sound of desert rock as Kyuss and Fu Manchu were channeled, though they refer to it as 'Tundra Rock'. The band setting the tone with the instrumental opening track Afghanistan which saw some tandem guitar playing from Benjamin Berdous and Tor Erik Bye, shifting the soundscapes on top of some earth cracking rhythmic bottom end from bassist Marie Moe and drummer Jard Hole. Berdous is also the vocalist his Danzig-like croon doing well to evoke those frozen valleys. Little chit chat and lots of intensity was what Slomosa brought to Swansea, their first time in Wales met but more enthusiasm. Kudos to the crowd they were great for every band. Hopefully they'll want to come back as I'd happily watch their sprawling style of stoner riffs again and again.
From here though it was the more direct approach, as LA trio Sasquatch (8) have waited 20 years to come to Wales so weren't going to hang around diving into their swaggering stoner rock with all the vigor of a stoner rock Grand Funk Railroad, combining boogie with fuzzed out jams. Getting the ball rolling with Just Couldn't Stand The Weather, which is much noisier live, it was the first of four from their 2017 album Maneuvers with three coming from their debut. Oddly only one from this years Fever Fantasy but I wasn't complaining as they stormed through a set of songs that if they were steaks they'd be prime rib.
As well as the notable comparison to GFR (one of my favourite American bands), there's plenty of Corrosion Of Conformity (Pepper fronted) and Sabbath too with the effects laden drawl of Keith Gibbs sit on top of his massive power chords and smokin' solos. The remainder of the band made up of Jason Casanova's (great name!) expert bass rhythms and Craig Riggs drumming which I think all but destroyed the drum kit. Their live show is frenetic, despite the small stage they were all over the place Keith even venturing into the audience at one point like a true rock star guitarist. The 11 tracks played were over in what felt like minutes but that's only because Sasquatch have a way of bringing you into their party atmosphere until the very end.
Full of booze and riffs (only the one for me as I was driving), there was an almighty cheer after the show ended, the band, in fact all the bands, visibly pleased with the turnout and the love in the room. This is what Tuesdays are made for, you can keep all your big concert halls and classic rock shows, the feel of an intimate sweaty venue with a trio of great bands can't be beat!
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