earthtone9 - Limerick, Dublin & Belfast

[Halo]

These shows are coming up at the weekend, anyone seen stage times yet?

[Evaninka]

Haven't seen them yet but I'll be at the Limerick show anyway

[Neuromancer]

Times for Belfast, Sunday 14th December @ Voodoo:

Doors: 7pm
Burner: 7:30-8:15
Earthtone9: 8:45-10pm

I'm keen to see Dublin times, as I reckon I'll drive down and catch it too!

[Halo]

DME posted these for Dublin

Doors: 19:00
Burner: 19:45
Earthtone9: 21:00

Bad Reputation have said Limerick is
Doors: 21:00
Burner: 21:30
Earthtone9: 22:30

[Anton Arcane]

The Dublin show was great craic last night.

[Pagan Saviour]

Heard there were flip all at it??

[Halo]

I really enjoyed all three shows, thought both bands were great, I do love ArcTanGent but actually think I would have preferred a normal setlist with songs from across their back catalogue/

There was maximum 50 people in Limerick, decent crowd in Dublin (but not massive, only slightly more than was at God Alone in the same venue on Thursday), looked like the same number at the Belfast show as the Dublin show.

Crowd in Belfast put the other two nights to shame, lots more energy.

I can't imagine we'll seem them back here when/if a new album comes around

[Neuromancer]

I hit both Dublin & Belfast. What was the numbers for Dublin? It only looked like about 30-40 people to me! Belfast was easily 70 or 80 in the room.

The difference in the 2 shows was astounding, basically the same performance, but the difference the crowds energy makes, not even to mention a decent lighting rig and proper/decent sound, is unreal. I did enjoy both gigs, Dublin was like watching a private performance in my living room, while Belfast was a proper underground gig - I think not having a bass player with them did make it slightly less of an event than it should have been, it wasn't noticeable after a whil, but it just would have been better.

I think Belfast was a fitting end to the tour for them and hopefully gave them a bit of hope after the previous 2 shows.

While I really enjoy their new stuff, I feel it lacks a bit of groove and atmosphere when compared to the Arc'Tan'Gent stuff - I'd dstill go see them again. and I'd love to hear some of the Omega EP material live.

[Eoin McLove]

Were these guys ever relevant beyond the pages of MH?

[Neuromancer]

Were these guys ever relevant beyond the pages of MH?

Absolutely. They had a short, but intense run for about 4 years, Arc'Tan'Gent is an absolute cult classic and one of the best British Metal albums of the last 30 years - in ways they were way ahead of their time.

Yeah, magazines loved them , but they were one of the few bands who's material has actually stood the test of time when you revisit today, unlike nearly all their peers - go listen to Arc'Tan'Gent or the Omega EP - they should have been huge, all it would have taken is a few dates tour with someone like Tool/Deftones/Korn or a tour with an underground band with a bigger profile but similar sound, like Neurosis. There were trying to make a go of it in the pre Myspace era (back when Cannibal Corpse couldn't even draw 100 people in Belfast), the "old model" was still very much in play by the time they split in 2002.

The Off Kilter Enhancement album, with it's Neurosis Punk Metal vibe, pre dates the Post & Sludge Metal boom of the early 2000s and could easily pass for something released today. These guys had 3 albums out before the likes of Mastodon & Kylesa had even formed and were pursuing a sound like The Ocean, Amenra & Cult of Luna before those 3 even had put out an album.

The crowd at the Belfast gig was a veritable "who's who" of guys that have been playing in bands here since the late 90s. No doubt in part to the effort Et9 made to play here twice in their short late 90s/early 00s stint (when there were fuck all gigs up north), but also likely to do with the fact their output is genuinely groundbreaking - go spin Off Kilter Enhancement and remember it came out in the summer of 1999.

The hype was justified, I just don't think the wider UK/IE audience was ready for it at the time.

[Eoin McLove]

Interesting. I'll check that out now. I remember hearing something by them decades ago and thinking it was trying very hard to be Deftonesy and maybe Toolish. I have mentioned this before, but I had a copy of MH with live review of theirs when Metal Hammer were trying to push them, and the photo of the singer put me off... he had an earpiece in and was touching his ear I think. It all looked a bit try hard to me. I think that single photo wrote them off in my head! But if you reckon there's some Neurosis in there then I will give it a spin.

Edit. Will Haven came to mind when I listened to them before and yup, immediately it sounds very much like them. The artwork even has a similar buzz. Let's see if it holds my attention.

Edit edit. Nope. Those vocals don't do it for me. Musically yeah, it's fine but it lacks identity. Sherlukkit. Not my bag, baby.