Gig Review: The Dead XIII / Griever / Curses & Cures – Milo Bar, Leeds, 10/04/2016
The Leeds date of The Dead XIII’s tour with Griever is in Milo Bar, a small venue which unfortunately does not get as full as hoped due to a last minute change of age restriction. Having said this, those who do make it seem like genuine fans who are up for a good night regardless. The two headline bands have a shared sense of theatricality in their performance and related styles of music, whilst still very much having their own spin on both, making them seem like an excellent choice to tour together.
Opening the night are Curses & Cures, a local “New Grave” punk sounding group from Wakefield, with a fairly short set of five songs. The tunes have a decent rhythm and beat to them, especially considering they acquired a new drummer only a few days before the gig. Vocally it is not bad, but sounds a little flat and lacking in variation, which makes songs such as ‘Ghosts’ and ‘Bulletproof’ less gripping than they could have been. The choice of ‘Summer of 69’ to cover probably isn’t a wise one considering even the best of bands would find it difficult to live up to. Their main problem, however, has to be a lack of stage presence. Watching the set feels less like viewing a stage performance and more like being present at a band practice; the most movement comes from singer Ashleigh but she is often singing to the back of the room, which is not visually ideal. Despite joking around a little with members of the crowd who they appear to know, on the whole they seem to suffer from a lack of confidence. They are a very young band who have some potential, but their live performance needs to show that they believe this.
Second to take the stage are Bournemouth metalcore band Griever, with only their second gig in Leeds. They begin poised with their backs to the audience, dimmed lighting and chilling notes playing through the speakers, before roaring to life. All five members are clothed head to toe in black, with even their necks and arms painted dark too. Whilst visually pleasing in itself, this is exaggerated by the impressive use of strobe lighting; the vivid white light creates a stark contrast with their dark figures and emphasises every dramatic movement they make, of which there are many. Their theatricality is added to by the striking facial expressions of lead vocalist David, who seems easily capable of interchanging passion, devil-like fury and intense sadness or grief throughout the set as appropriate.
Their setlist is full of heavy tracks with occasional injections of clean vocals which give the music an appealing level of variation. It mixes a few tracks from their first EP ‘Rebirthing’, available as a free download here, and others from their upcoming EP ‘Soul Searcher’, being released on 27th May. ‘Died Before You Lived’ is probably the most impressive of the older songs. 2014 single ‘Conflicted’ precedes final song ‘A Pure Heart’, the latter being their latest single and without a doubt the best song of the performance. The band thank the crowd for coming down to watch them, joking that they could be at home doing much more thrilling Sunday night tasks such as catching up on Hollyoaks. It really does have to be said, what a performance those who did stay home missed.
The Dead XIII also begin atmospherically turned away from the audience, but their intro has a much darker, horror-themed feel to it, appropriate for their music. They open with ‘Frost Bite’ and ‘Daemons’ from latest album ‘Catacombs’. The set focuses on this album but also includes a couple of tracks from their first EP ‘Creatures of the Night’. With their dramatic make up, white faces and black eyes, they certainly have a eerie, gripping stage presence. Adding to this is their energetic movement on stage, jumping on the risers at the front and looming over the crowd. This is definitely a band who are all capable musicians and performers who can each individually hold the attention of the audience.
Unfortunately they do have a few technical problems, with vocalist Kurt beginning the set without a working microphone, only to find another one, which also did not work. Symon is also forced to leap off the stage halfway through a song, returning with a new guitar before explaining that he has just “exploded” his favourite one. They apologise for managing to break everything, yet strangely it does not particularly affect the set. The crowd take it all with a light heart and laugh along, and the sense of everything literally falling apart is overruled by an excellent performance by the band, bringing everything together again. Kurt’s deep, growly vocals accompany some great playing from the rest of the group, and they produce a unique, memorable sound which leaves fans wanting more. ‘XIII’ and ‘The Greatest Mistake’ are especially remarkable songs which demonstrate their abilities. They let the crowd pick their last song, and after some deliberation among them they decide upon ‘Be-ware’, another recent one. This is another excellent track which rounds off the night well.
Check out the latest releases from The Dead XIII and Griever below:
Rated Noise 
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