Hatebreed, The Black Dogs & Demoraliser – Gig Review

Gig: Hatebreed, The Black Dogs & Demoraliser
Date: Tuesday 30th April 2013
Venue: Manchester Academy 2
Reviewed By: Mark

Set List:

1 … To the Threshold
2 … Honor Never Dies
3 … Dead Man Breathing
4 … Everyone Bleeds Now
5 … In Ashes They Shall Reap
6 … Indivisible
7 … Burial for the Living
8 … Empty Promises
9 … Smash Your Enemies
10 … As Diehard as They Come
11 … Perseverance
12 … Defeatist
13 … Last Breath
14 … This Is Now
15 … Driven by Suffering
16 … Tear It Down
17 … Doomsayer
18 … Before Dishonor
19 … Burn the Lies
20 … The Language
21 … Live for This
22 … Destroy Everything
23 … I Will Be Heard

Yeah I know it’s a little late, however I’ve been away on holiday and then been busy when I got back to work. Anyway here is my review of when HATEBREED visited Manchester on the Divinity of Purpose tour (They played the songs above and am sure it was in this order, anyway all that matters is that these are the songs they played). Last time I saw Hatebreed at Manchester (December 2010) they did something that I thought was great, they played 4/5 songs from each album in a block and started with Hatebreed (the album they were touring) and finished with Satisfaction…/Under the Knife and then the encore…it was mental (apart from having to listen to 4/5 songs from the Hatebreed album).

So what were the support bands like? I had heard some tracks from DEMORALISER (which are quite good) and THE BLACK DOGS were unknown to me…DEMORALISER I don’t know what they were like as I was in the pub having a few drinks and some tea and I caught the first 4/5 songs from THE BLACK DOGS and they sounded alright, nothing great. The crowd wasn’t really into them, however this could be because the majority were waiting for HATEBREED, so I decided to go back to the bar for a few more drinks (I went out straight from work).

HATEBREED hit the stage a little earlier so that they could play for longer and it was a treat, the place erupted when they kicked into “To The Threshold” and the pit was as always quite fun and brutal. The only thing I didn’t understand was why they played “Dead Man Breathing” so early in the set as it is more of a get your breath back song. I must admit I loved this gig as the majority of the set list included songs from ‘Satisfaction Is The Death of Desire’ so I was one happy bunny, they even played more songs off this album than the one they were touring?!?!? (however I ain’t complaining). The only thing I did find a little confusing is that they didn’t play “Put it to the Torch” which is the first single from the new album.

Another thing I loved about this set list was that HATEBREED have learned that a lot of people aren’t impressed with the album ‘Hatebreed’ so they only played two songs off that album (Yeah). HATEBREED were tight and the sound was clear and you could make everything out and it sounded great. The pit was mental and a few circle pits and the camaraderie between the pit was fantastic with everyone looking out for each other and throwing each other up when asked. The majority of the crowd seem to lap up the older material as they were (like me) on the older side. My only downside would be that they didn’t play “Straight To Your Face” and quite a few people asked for this song, however they played the majority of the fans favourite so everyone left happy, sweaty and bruised.

The only thing that would have made this a great gig would be if they had better support, Jamey said that they toured with unknown bands to give them a chance etc like SLAYER give them many years ago in the UK (2004). However I think that this is a little white lie as in America for the Divinity of Purpose tour the support bands were EVERY TIME I DIE, TERROR, JOB FOR A COWBOY and THIS IS HELL for the second leg and the first leg had SHADOWS FALL, DYING FETUS and CONTORTIONIST. So obviously they were giving them “little unknown” bands in America a chance? Pfft who are they trying to kid? They just couldn’t convince anyone to come to the UK for 7 days!!!

Hardcore gigs just don’t sell that well over here, look at the Persistence Tour 2013 that toured Europe (well mainly Germany) it had HATEBREED, AGNOSTIC FRONT, H2O, STICK TO YOUR GUNS, NEAERA and THE ACACIA STRAIN…why didn’t it come to the UK? Because they sell out decent side venues in Central Europe! Manchester Academy 2 has a capacity of 800+ (and it wasn’t sold out…nearly though), yet the places they play in Germany have a capacity of 1,600-2,000+ and they sell out easily…is the Hardcore scene in the UK dying out?

Keep the Scene alive…