Cancer Bats - Can Manchester smell what the Bats are cooking!!!

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Cancer Bats new era is a success!!!

Cancer Bats **** have a new guitarist and are keen to make a new chapter for the band, with a load of new material to show it off. Their Liverpool gig the night before was stopped after only a couple of songs due to *checks notes*.. ‘Flooding’. Err, ok then.  The ‘Bats had worked with the promoters from both venues to make sure Liverpool fans would not be disappointed and could get in for FREE at Manchester tonight, so the venue was packed. They all came early, like pre-lit fuses as soon as the doors were opened. The atmosphere was already to the max, by the time the Cancer Bats came on. With everyone being warmed up nicely by Witch Fever and Graphic Nature, too of the hottest bands around at the moment. This was a great night of noise, that hit Manchester really hard like a punch in the face. All three bands on the bill are at a changing point in their career. There wasm soething really special in the air tonight (As Phil Collins once said), although thats maybe because Rebellion venue has finally sorted out their bogs. It smells much nicer now, like a meadow in the summer breeze.

Before the show started I got to chat with some of the usual venue crew, photographers and journalists to catch up on the vibe and any gossip. Word on the street (do folks still use that expression?) was that tonight was going to a be a hammer blow. And by the time the Cancer Bats came on, I already had a blast of that hammer. There is only word to describe them and it's ‘Mosh!’, because the Cancer Bats alwasy come on with more energy than most bands exert in their life time. As well as new songs in the bands set, it's nice they have included songs from each of their albums, like the amazing 'Hail Destroyer', 'Harem of Scorpions', and 'Bricks and Motor'. Which have always been live favourites, and ones they really can't leave out of their set. Stand out song in the bands set for me is though 'Lonely Bong', which is played with even more adrenalin than I thought they had in them. This is their crossroads songs. Do they rest on their back catalogue with their old line up, or do they make a new chapter?  Judging by their performance and the fans euphoria, the new guy is here to stay and is very much loved. 

Stephen Harrison (Fever 333) was lethal, like a Keith Flint meets Tigger with a deadly six string. Diving, jumping, thrashing around dressed in white, he is a health and safety nightmare.  How he didnt accidently knockout a band member is a mystery. An incredible powerhouse of energy everyone fell in love with. Towards the end of the set fatigue started to set in with some of the older punters due to the relentless moshpit, while the younger ones got ever more wild with stage invasions, crowd surfing and utter chaos. That was even before their cover of Beastie Boys ‘Sabotage’. At that point, even I went down to join the mosh. I will be honest, I cant remember much after that… Looking back on the night, three bands all at crucial points in their career.  Every band can nail this and they had had a room full of punters cheering them all at every step. 

Review by Jason Pearson and Photos by Paul Samual (www.Instagram.com/PaulySamtal/)

Cancer Bats - Setlist
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Physic Jailbreak
Hail Destroyer
Pneumonia Hawk
Bricks and Mortar
Lonely Bong
Harem of Scorpions
R.A.T.S
Road Sick
Arsenic in the year of the Snake
True Zero
Hammering On
Friday Night
Sabotage
Winterpeg
Lucy

Check Out! the Video for 'Lonely Bong' Below...