Monument Live at the Barfly

I was a pretty late attendee for this one. I was umming and arhhhing on whether to go or not but I think knowing Outloud was playing persuaded me in the end and Monument were great last time I saw them at the same venue. There were two other bands on the bill which was actually a bit of a pain as it meant the two main bands got much shorter sets.

First was a band called 2 Cards of 25. Very odd name that I'm sure has some meaning or other but I don't quite know what. The band played hard rock with slightly classic rock old school flavours. Not amazing by any stretch but not a complete disaster either. The singer I found to be rather mediocre to say the least. The lead guitarist had some nice chops here and there.

Next up were Agent. A band who I saw supporting someone at this very venue. They took an age to get ready and unfortunately their music didn't fire up much enthusiasm in me either. It's like a sort of droning dark metal with not a lot of melody. A far cry from the two main bands. If you like variety in a gig then yeah it's fine to have a band like this but I for one was happy to see the back of them no offence meant although they weren't happy at all at having to leave a little early as their allotted time had over run.

Next up were the Greek melodic rockers led by American singer Chandler Mogel. These guys have put out a couple of great albums of catchy melodic rock so I was looking forward to their set and they didn't disappoint at all. Chandler is a great front man make no mistake with a voice to match. The band locks into a groove in no time and let the melodies flow nicely. The only disappointment was their desperately short 30 minute set. These guys could have headlined and people would have been happy. They got a great response from the rather packed Barfly.

The stage was quickly made ready for the bombastic trad metallers from the good old East ende of London to swash and buckle their way through a short and razor sharp set of classic Maiden worship on speed. Boy do these guys have fun on stage whilst their playing. Constantly smiling and engaging with their audience. The front man has an sir raid siren of a voice with a snappy set of tunes that keep choruses and high pitched vocals at the fore front whilst the guitarists widdle away like there's no tomorrow leaving the bass player to do his best Steve Harris impression. These guys are a seriously fun band to watch. The packed 150 strong crowd was enjoying their set immensely as the singer announced the final song Rock the Night and it's a cliche to say it but rock the night they fucking well did!

If the first two bands didn't turn up and we got a 90 minute set from Outloud and Monument it would have been a killer night but it was still good and can't complain as the tickets were dirt cheap at £7. I haven't paid that little to go to a gig in an eternity!

2 Cards of 25

Agent

Outloud

Monument