TesseracT
At 7pm on Wednesday night, I was sat on the sofa with a cup of tea, thoroughly unmotivated. I knew I was going to Manchester to review the TesseracT & Periphery show, but for some reason, all my brain wanted to do was sit and watch America's Next Top Model.
Anyway, after a pep talk from my boyfriend and Periphery 'bigger-upperer' I decided to get my ass in gear and set off… I arrived at Manchester Academy three to find out Angels & Airwaves were playing the bigger venue, and was half tempted to go on a Tom DeLonge-hunt, but no, I trekked up to the top of the academy and stepped into a room filled with people wearing black.
Already halfway through their set were opening act, Monuments, who - I have to say - were bloody brilliant. I mean, id never listened to this 'type' of music before, Gareth tells me it's called Mathscore or something, but prior to Wednesday, I just thought it was noise he liked to play in his car to annoy me.
Anyway, despite reminding me of that band P.O.D., (in looks, not sound) I was quite impressed and vowed to listen to more of Monuments in the future.
Then it was the turn of TesseracT, a band I've had on my radar for a good few years now but have never gotten around to seeing live - despite hearing great things about the band.
With a new frontman who couldn't hold back on his stage antics (he reminded me a bit of Jared Leto. No idea why), the boys did themselves proud. Playing songs from one half of their forthcoming EP, it was interesting to note that their songs flowed effortlessly from one to the next, meaning they didn’t hang around waiting for screams and applause after each track.
Not only that, but Dan Tompkins sticks out like a sore thumb at the front of the pack, with hi bandmates sporting long hair that they fling all over the place, Dan wanders around looking cool and seducing all the women in the room with his little dance moves.
These guys are a band that all you kids with long hair, and stretched ears and studded belts NEED to be checking out… in fact, I think everyone should, because I went into that show thinking I might not really enjoy it, but I came out with a more open mind and three new bands to make an effort to listen to.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison