NME Awards Tour 2016 at Rock City - Photo by Dom Henry
The renowned NME Awards Tour was back at Rock City this Tuesday with an eclectic line-up of musicians. Varying from grime artist Bugzy Malone, to Rat Boy, to the grungy Drenge and the infamous indie icon’s Block Party.
Bugzy Malone clearly bloody loves Manchester (and who can blame him? They do put on a crackin’ Christmas market). Quite spectacularly putting “Manny on the map” with repeated shouts of the Manc area code (0161 if you’re wondering), he managed to pull of an enthusiastic performance that really showcased Manchester’s emerging grime scene.
Starting the set with Walk With Me, he spat alongside a heavy bass whilst describing his rising musical star. Fifth track WasteMan proved popular amongst the crowd with the them finally granting his wish that “Nottingham make some fucking noise” as they bellowed his invective back to him. Final track Bronson begins with a haunting baseline whilst Bugzy describes some “real life shit”. Apparently, Charles Bronson himself loves it, which is, erm, nice… I suppose.
Rat Boy - Photo by Dom Henry
Rat Boy arrived on stage dressed like a new aged Nirvana and dived head first into the set. Opening with their latest release rap-rock Beastie Boys-esq track MOVE, the band delivered a youthful dose of grungy indie rock. Left 4 Dead is a punchy track about “nipping to the Co-op” whilst WASTEMAN, with it’s Caribbean infused samples, bemoans the “rich getting richer and the poor are staying poor.” It’s all very Jamie T, but that isn’t very necessarily a bad thing.
Whilst it was hard to ignore the very obvious musical influences, Rat Boy still put on an enjoyable performance. Yes, it skirted fairly close to being a Jamie T tribute act (“Jamie Tea” anyone?) but there’s clearly something special coming with Cardy. It may take him a bit more experimentation, but I think the outcome may be pretty magical.
Drenge - Photo by Dom Henry
Drenge. My notes during the gig included the words ‘good’ and ‘loud’ and to be honest, I think that’s a rather apt description. Drenge are very good, and very loud. Showcasing their dark lyricism with the religiously inspired tracks Never Awake and The Woods, the Derbyshire natives put on an impressive show of filthy, thrashing guitars, and deep brooding vocals. Running Wild is a brilliantly frantic live track that has the crowd going absolutely wild.
Treating us to a few of 2013’s debut is a thrashing and enthusiastic performance of Backwaters that is greatly appreciated by the mass of fans. Fuckabout, a song about literally being a fuckabout (I’m sure we can all relate), similarly gets a good reception, with the crowds throwing their hands up and bowing down to the sibling-duo. Quite the impressive response for a band with who’ve only been going for four years. Eoin had told us earlier that he loves us “I love you Nottinghaaaaaam!” and it seems clear from the crowd’s reaction that the feeling is certainly reciprocated.
Bloc Party - Photo by Dom Henry
Bloc Party’s performance was almost like watching two different bands. Starting off with the openers from their latest offering Hymns, the band played The Good News and Only He Can Heal Me to a rather lacklustre crowd. Reviving their spirits with 2008’s indie classic Mercury got the audience in full swing only to crash back to earth with a blow with a return to their new track Virtue, a well-intentioned tune that unfortunately lacks the excitement of anyhting off 2005’s Silent Alarm.
However, the beloved tracks of the noughties were met with mass appreciation from the Rock City crowd as they lapped up tunes such as Song for Clay, Banquet and One More Chance. Okereke urges the crowd to give him all they’ve got (“Come on Shottingham show us what you’ve got”) and they certainly do when it comes to cherished records like Helicopter, dancing away and bellowing the words back to him like there’s no tomorrow.
Bloc Party’s performance was stellar, but the Notts crowd just weren’t interested in the new stuff and it went down like a lead balloon. Perhaps, it’s time for Bloc Party to step aside and let newer bands like Drenge take the headline slot.
NME Awards Tour 2016 with Bloc Party, Drenge, Rat Boy, and Bugzy Malone took place at Rock City on Tuesday 2 February 2016.
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