Bi:Lingual, TS1 Bar, Middlesbrough
- Written by Will Simpson
A long time ago two brothers attended Middlesbrough college to study music, or rather become music. It was there they met Bi:lingual front man Dillan Cartlidge an introvert poet with an inner rage that fires up black coals and burns the machine to the ground.
Before that began though the stage was stripped back of all its electronic apocalyptic mayhem and a sermon was set by the incredible Idle Violets. Paying a homage to the heavy industrial rock of times gone by, the threesome thrashed a dark demonic groove out that gave the feeling this was not just any other gig. A black crowd of acid heads, trendies and 'new faces' swayed to the hypnotic flow; heavy riffs and crashing symbols blazed on through a tight set. The build ups and head-banging climaxes in to waves of sound that fuse together with the large projection behind the band all reminiscent of some far off place in rock history when the LSD had just hit Lemmy.
A quick scan of the audience seemed to project some type of funeral for modern culture, after all Idle Violets were not doing anything new, this style of three piece has rocked out for years. The mood though is anything but sombre. As the final song dwindles in to noise, an exhausted audience catches the moment it's in and looks around to see all have made it through.
Good things are on the head for Bi:lingual as front man Dill tells me before they are due to go on. With a UK tour coming up from the team behind recent Queens of the stone age UK tours; the four lads from Middlesbrough have all played key roles in bringing a music scene to the underground of the North East. Bass player Arron Lythe was a champion in bringing fresh bands to the area; here is now being ready to reverse the process and take the talents of Teesside and put it on display for the world to see.
From the off the pace never lets up; Stephanos Louca hitting the drums with a force and precision that could be felt seven blocks down. Over drive bass lines locked in tight whilst the acid overtones of George's guitar scream dark lines in to the electronic equipment he fiddles with between every song. A tone that's been sculpted and shaped to represent the hard callings of the frontman's shriek.
A thumping noise is cracked wide open as the half political half satirical vocals are spat out with venom. On stage the chemistry between the band is seen in the raging emotions each of them plays out with their instrument. This is a band who are not afraid to go to ground if needed.
The funeral rages on and the machine is being smashed into a million little pieces; somewhere in the chaos Bi:lingual manage to ignite a flame that will burn for a new century to come.
As the music comes to a close you can see that these lads are not the same inside. The black mass is over and the demons have been released; the energy poured out into the room has left the building and entered the ether. Things will never be the same again.