Festival Review: A Night With Silent at The Chapel

To begin with I think that a gig put on by all these underground lesser-known bands is very impressive, I have nothing but an incredible amount of respect for Silent Confidant for pulling it all together; Although I missed the first few acts of Capz and Kurrii I did manage to see the rest.

To kick it off we had Dead Star Nine (stylized as Dead*9) and Alienvert from Manchester who brought their genre blending rapping to the stage, many people hadn’t showed up yet but nevertheless these two gave it everything they had. Dead*9 delivered flowy and intense bars with some impressive speeds that only complimented Alienvert’s impressive screams and more hardcore rap approach proving for a strong opening.

Following on from this was Bonestrider with their first ever performance and they did not disappoint, I was pleasantly surprised by how well they performed; their riffs were impressive, the melodies intense and their energy even stronger. With a bigger crowd to control they started mosh pits and got the crowd going to their awesome metal tunes.

Next up was DVED who came to the show with a presence of a professional, but it was only after this set I was told this was his first ever gig which again was hard to believe with the crazy amount of energy, emotion and heart he put into his performance, his hard bass accompanied by his loud rap that feel like a dagger in the throat with an intensity that astonished me.

He was later joined by ‘Klaude’ who arrived such synergy it felt like watching twins; these two have a bright future ahead of them.

After that came the mighty Hound Master who did not let up; they brought a bit of a different sound from those before, opting for more of a classic rock sound but a lot heavier, giving me a similar musical feeling to that of Royal Blood and Queens of the Stone Age.

Although most of the crowd had disappeared for them, the few who were there still managed to have fun with their crunchy tunes and incredible melodies. Strong vocals, snappy guitar, intricate bass, and slapping drums made for one of the best performances of the night.

Then came Viizzi, whose music really impressed me more than anything else. Although Viizzi’s bars and instrumentals were interesting, and I actually rather enjoyed his blending of different subgenres of rap to make something I’d never heard before, the performance just wasn’t quite my thing. The rest of the crowd were really committed to giving back energy and making it a good experience; Viizzi has the vibe of a rapper with a strong following.

Up next was Head Cloud, arriving from another gig earlier in the night that didn’t stop them putting on a killer performance, again bringing a stark opposite to the previous act and giving the audience a taste of their shoegaze sound, putting everyone into a trance with their raw talent. The sound mixing was perfect for them, the vocals were at good level to suit their vibe, with all the instruments coming together to create a wild trip into psychedelia.

Then began the co-headliners Klegz and Monzioh, who had this crazy mix of Grime and Rock, their instrumentals reminded me of Dark Pop artists like Nine Inch Nails and Health, with bars that replicated something like Skepta or Giggs. This made for a thoroughly enjoyable performance; both of their energy made for a set that felt like it belonged on a bigger stage with a bigger crowd.

I genuinely loved the effort they made with crowd interaction to get them really moving to their music, especially during the song Run which was the best song out of the set. They were later joined by Ash from Silent Confidant under his producer name of Diox, and rapper Siknows, who both equally upped the levels of the set to the max. The energy, the sweat, the musicality were all on fire during this set.

And finally, the headliner and organiser of the night Silent Confidant took to the stage, clad in red light, with heavy bass playing as they walked on. I simply don’t have much to say, purely because I can’t give enough praises to this band; an incredibly intense live performance with the highest energy of the night, and a musicality that really explores all the tastes of each member equally, the rap elements brought in by the bassist Ash, the rock and metal elements brought in by the singer Alex, and the indie and pop elements brought in by the drummer Jacob. All coming together for a diverse and unique sound that gave me nothing but joy - the tunes are catchy, the vibes immaculate, to create such a great atmosphere. They owned the stage and the night. 

The night showed me that this band are a pure testament to the love of rock and rap that is seen within the Nottingham music scene. These three really have a bright future ahead of them, because the only let down of the performance was the lack of crowd engagement and the few numbers, which is why I believe that they absolutely need to be in a bigger venue with a bigger crowd for a wild show. So, I plead with you, dear reader, if you haven’t listened to this band, get them into your headphones and explore the world of Silent Confidant.

A Night With Silent took place at The Chapel on 22 September 2023.