Gig: BEX, Welcome 2 Hell Tour @ The Zombie Shack, Manchester
BEX by Nic Howells
Manchester fans descended on The Zombie Shack on a very wet Friday night for some Nu-punk tunes. BEX pitched up at the shack and made it over with some late Halloween vibes as part of their ‘Welcome 2 Hell’ tour.
This run of UK shows has had different acts in support each night, having already rand through London & Birmingham. Friday night we were welcomed by local outfits Lip and Oceans On Mars.
LiP by Nic Howells
LiP
The Manchester up-and-comers LiP oozed cool. The group have barely been on the scene in Manchester for two years but have A regular tendency to light up the room. Enigmatic vocalist Quade is down to clown with the Zombie Shack crowd between stints of rapping and singing. LiP are a natural fit on stage, with the rhythm section of Ryan (drums) and Jacob (bass) giving Manchester a very soulful start to their night. Stand out track from Fridays set were ‘Burning Love’ and the recently dropped ‘Thousand Years’ with accompanying video. Those two tracks bookended the set, with some excellent yet-to-be-released tunes like ‘6am’, ‘Drink Alone’ & ‘Sleepy Beauty’.
You’d be forgiven for assuming you had walked in on a jam session with these guys. LiP is full of jokes and anecdotes, as the non-genre four piece warmed up a wet crowd with vibes alone. The group teased recording of a new EP as recently as September, which they briefly touched on on the night as well. Scene will be sitting with bated breath for when that release comes to fruition.
Oceans on Mars
Hot off a support slot for Tova in September, Oceans on Mars are making a presence for themselves up north. This alt-rock five piece acted as the “black hatted cowboys” to Lip’s white, with a much edgier, 90’s infused sound. There were in-jokes a plenty made with the crowd who regularly requested Seal, though the substitute of ‘People in My Head’ definitely sufficed. They brought in a small congregation of fans who’ve come to know them in their 5 years on the scene.
That experience has certainly made them worth their salt as they had some unfortunate technical difficulties with vocalist Haydyn Biddle filled for time well for an expressed a lot of gratitude to the Manc crowd for their love and patience. The grungy crooning of Biddle held up incredibly well during recent single ‘Let Me Know’ as well as being an excellent edgy showcase for guitar duo Angus Scott and James Oldham.
The “cool as can be” five piece didn’t let much phase them on the night as they ended on ‘Nothing Needs To Change’. Oceans on Mars have already cast a net over a great range of venues in the North West of the UK, as well as numerous in Manchester this year alone. They could easily turn this venue around to play a date of their own here. Keep an eye out for what is next.
BEX by Nic Howells
BEX
The height (and fright) of the night finally arrived as BEX took a seat stageside, head to toe in dead bride vibes. Early portions of the set consisted of BEX terrorising the front of the stage for show opener ‘Empathy’. First SCUM track of the night followed, with ‘Chained into My Brain’, as well as ‘Hazmat’ and ‘Tiptoe’.
In greeting the Manchester crowd, BEX commands more movement as they’re only here for one night, before clattering through the recent SCUM EP with ‘Bite My Tongue’ & ‘Trust No One’. Drummer Connor Griffiths radiates energy sneering from behind the kit, and one man rhythm machine Josh Paine duels against BEX on bass. The Zombie Shack crowd needed few reasons to be rowdy on Friday. There was a particularly youthful joy at BEX busting out the water gun during ‘Ghost Train’ and into ‘Green Room’.
BEX announced they were looking for the best dressed in the crowd to equal enthusiasm, with the WELCOME 2 HELL tour being Halloween themed. At first it’s suggested that the winner is a gentleman dressed as Dracula in the back. BEX points out that’s in fact their dad, before putting actual winner to a crowd vote. Shockingly, and appropriately, a clown wins.
Post pageant, the setlist reads as a quick fire of efforts from this year, which sound excellent live. Starting with ‘Slave to The Grind’ from April, this few tracks in a row was a personal highlight as it was all energy. That pace only quickened as BEX rattled off the majority of SCUM back to back, starting with ‘Don’t Date The Devil’ & ‘Misogynistic Dicks’. Though this will have been the first live experience for a lot of fans with these tracks, those in attendance are well learned. BEX does the usual “we released a new EP” routine, and the vast majority of attendees have bought, streamed or at least heard SCUM. I even treated myself to a cassette copy after the show, and thank BEX for signing it!
BEX by Nic Howells
The final few tracks starts with a different rendition of ‘Rain Rain Go Away’ than most will remember. ‘Sit Down Cow (Rain)’ brought heaps more energy into the room late on, and this was a big set as club venues go. The WELCOME 2 HELL tour said “Goodbye” to Manchester in the most appropriate way, the final tracks off SCUM. ‘filfy’ carries as much energy live as it does in studio and music video, this was a favourite for many. Final track honours went to ‘SPYD4 K1NG’. Although it has been a live feature for well over a year, has a new found fire live and was the excellent way to end a set.
While there’s obvious attitude on show with BEX’s brand of Nu-punk noise, so many things about this show endeared them as a homegrown talent. Scruff Of The Neck owner Mark Lippmann was in house for the show and heaped praise on BEX. As well as it being a family affair for SOTN, it was for the BEX household as well. We had a brief chat with BEX’s mother who manned the merch desk. Gleaming with joy, they said this is something they always imagined BEX would do (though we don’t think that plan involved Papa BEX almost winning a costume contest at their daughters show).
To state the obvious, the near two years we’ve had BEX on the scene for have flown by. That’s what makes the turnout and pomp of the WELCOME 2 HELL tour so impressive, as well as the quality on show in SCUM. We thoroughly enjoyed this set, and would like to thank BEX and team for having us down.
