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Ellen
Brody
Willow Festival 2002
As
Ellen Brody (EB) took to the stage at the Willow
Festival my own narrow mindedness was the first
thing to shock me. I hold up my (far too hairy)
palms and say that before a note had been played
I had already decided that the lads looked
nervous and very young.
The
next shock I had was a lot more welcome, as the
first guitar chord was struck I noticed the ever
welcome face of the autobots smiling from the
guitarists chest, this wasn’t the shock. What
shocked me was the sound. The heavy crunch from
the back line (along with the reassuring glances
from the ghost of Optimus Prime) convinced me to
stop being so bloody judgemental, except of the
music.
If the guys are as young as they look, though
it’s probably me being too old, there is no
way you can tell from the music, or the sound.
EB
easily win best guitar sound of the weekend,
each quick fire riff spat from the amps to the
eager crowd. The DJ was on point when it came to
the scratching and there was no faulting his
vocal efforts either. At one point I thought the
crowd were going to be treated to a White Zombie
cover, but alas……..
The
rapping/singer is a great choice for a front
man. Quiet and unassuming as he takes the stage
but a storm of fury with a point to prove when
the show gets underway.
The
only non-complimentary thing I have to say about
EB is that on this occasion I thought that the
drums could have been hit harder, less Lars
Ulrich and more Dave Grohl’s my motto.
However,
this was one of the few bands of the weekend
that produced a show of unexpected quality. Even
the singer managed to keep his English accent
through the set, which isn’t easily done when
performing at this speed. This coupled with the
sound of the guitars really set EB apart from
other bands this year.
If
you ever like Rage Against the Machine, Machine
Head, Downset or anyone in this heavy vein
you’ll love this band.
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