Radar Festival Day 2, O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
Saturday, 29.07.23
Saturday felt calmer, this was the first real festival day for me as Friday did sort of feel like. Sleep Token gig featuring Radar in support. It was also the heaviest and most eclectic day musically.
Tom: Speaking of heavy it was the crushing, industrial, electronic, tech metal of Modern Error (8) that opened the day for me. Given a great full sound, they had very nice contrast between rousing chourses and aggressive hardcore verses. Think of bands such as Underoath, Architects and BMTH as influences and you'll be in the right ballpark. They would definately benefit from a larger stage to help with the presence that their sound brings.
Matt: You know I said it felt calmer? Well that was until Harbinger (9) launched into a one of the heaviest sets I’ve seen from a metal band, crushing grooves reverberated through the body, shifting organs with every bass drop and breakdown. Inciting violence before every song, keeping the energy as high as possible and the pits as volatile as they could, Harbinger definitely woke up anyone who had been feeling the night before. A band I’d see again in a heartbeat they were a strong start to what was for me the best day of the weekend.
From the sublime to the ridiculous as “The Boys From Tibby” returned to the Radar stage. Tiberius (9) were the find of the festival last year due to their ludicrous prog/power/tech mix and their stage antics, so it was amazing to see them again bring their silliness to Radar for a second time. A band that always give you the most personal experience, as vocalist Grant Barclay and guitarist Chris Foster spend more time in the crowd than they do on stage.
They encourage singing along, Goblin marching and general silliness as Jahan Tabrizi (guitar) and Ryan Anderson (bass) pull some killer shapes on the half empty stage. Poor old Nick Kelly left to work the samples/intros and of course drum. Having also performed at Power Metal Quest Fest they aren’t the heaviest band on the bill, moving more towards traditional prog metal and power/classic metal too, but bloody hell don’t they give a good show! The feeling of walking out of one of their gigs with a smile on your face is priceless and needs to be repeated often.
Back into the heavy as grinders Pupil Slicer (8) took no prisoners on the mainstage, angry, socially conscious and playing their instruments like they owed them money, every moment was a ferocious snarl of fights against abusers of all types. The band welcome everyone to their shows no matter what you identify as, what you believe in and who you are as long as you are respectful and enjoy their abrasive music. Representing the ethos of Radar as a ‘safe space’ their inclusion made Saturday afternoon pretty heavy
Thankfully following them was the undulating Tool-like prog grooves of Wheel (9) a favourite of mine this show was to be their last with bassist Aki 'Conan' Virta who steps away from the band after it. What was basically a celebration of his time there, Wheel made sure to showcase his rhythmic pulses with their set, drawing you in with the heavy riffs and brilliant vocals that have become their trademark. The second stage was packed which is always a sign that a band are doing all the right things, the synergy between the four current members will be hard to replicate but it was excellent to see the band with all of their instruments and their full show unlike the issues they had the last two times I’ve seen them. I’m sure with Aki now gone the hunt will start in earnest to get the Wheel(s) rolling again (Sorry – Bad Pun Ed).
Staying on the second stage for a bit of Welsh noise as post-hardcore ragers Dream State (8) impressed me on the first time seeing them, not that I haven’t tried numerous times, it just seem fate was against me. New vocalist Jessie Powell commands the stage (there was something about the female contingent of musicians at Radar absolutely owning the stage this year) as the band were a focused, tight as hell unit who knew how to capture the crowds imagination, this new version of the band are far more mature unit than they were before, trimmed to a four piece there’s elements of some of the styles biggest hitters. I’ll be keeping an eye on Dream State after this show.
And now for something completely different. The old Monty Python couldn’t be more apt for what was about to come. A massive pagan/satanic altar was constructed flanked on each side by a drum set and keyboard, and that was all Perturbator (9) needed to mesmerise for an hour long rave. If you saw Dirty Loops last year then you’ll know metalheads love to throw shapes and the shapes thrown as the synthwave pioneer bombarded Manchester with beats and bright lights were illicit and downright criminal. Even if you’re not a fan of EDM, you can’t help but be sucked in as the repetition, heavy throb and psychedelic visuals made you forget that this was just two guys, the use of real guitars and drums to augment the electronics is almost the perfect way to perform it. Perturbator are a band who belong on stage, turning a room full of metal heads into ravers, they slot in to every kind of festival. More festivals should take the cue from Radar and book them.
Something more familiar, and if you’re a Radar veteran very familiar as you’ll have probably seen Heart Of A Coward (8) frontman Kaan Tasan as part of the crew, before he joined the band and to this day. But his most important job on this stage was to keep the legacy of UK metalcore veterans Heart Of A Coward alive. He of course revels in this challenge the band killing it with that metalcore sound they have been flagbearers for since the late 2000’s as Kaan (who only joined in 2019 but has years of experience) commands the crowd and the stage pushing the packed room to the limit, the waves of crowd surfers causing concern for the security staff. A vital part of the UK’s modern metal genre, they are currently at their most impressive and focused, on the back of this show hitting their October shows is a must see.
Finally it was time to embrace the weird, a few years ago the metal world went nuts for the absolutely bat shit video for Very Noise, a 2 minute grenade of metal/dubstep/classical music. It was featured on every site, sent between metalheads and put the name Igorrr (9) up in lights. Igorrr is the alter ego of Gautier Serre a polymath musician who started it out as studio only project before expanding to a full band and taking it on the road. The music features breakbeats, black metal, Middle Eastern/Balkan folk, death growls, operatic soprano and headache inducing array of visual light cues. All of this just in the first song.
They are very much a Marmite band, for everyone getting into the maelstrom of genre clashes Igorrr present there were others who stood dumbfounded by what the hell was going on. The three vocalists interchange depending on the song though soprano Marthe Alexandre contributes the most, her voice immensely powerful and her windmilling making my neck hurt. This is surely the sort of music at a Dadaist S&M party hosted by the National Opera; Mr Bungle, Aphex Twin, Mesuggah and Bach all whipped into a tornado of black leather and obscure artistic expressionism and frankly I’m here for it. I guarantee you won’t see anything else like it, bizarre, brutal and beautiful Igorrr make Very Noise, Very Well.
With our heads spinning it was back to the hotel, the sleep disrupted by a local two piece playing a guerrilla set on a road island just outside where we were staying. On reflection, good on them for getting their name out there but at the time my mouth was full of expletives (man needs sleep).
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