Meeting Walls of Jericho’s vocalist Candace Kucsulain prior to the show, I would never have guessed what was to be released later on stage. Her kind demeanour showed no cracks revealing the fury underneath. I am a Walls Of Jericho gig virgin, and although it doesn’t take much investigation to discover that this band has a dedicated following, I was yet to discover exactly why.
First up in the gig however was SNFU, a band with as many lines and scraggly hairs as their obvious experience. They steadily and expertly dealt the crowd hard punk riffs and yelled vocals – lead by bearded shaman Ken Chinn, looking far more enigmatic in a gold dress than I could ever hope to achieve – strong enough to get a full pogo pit from the youths of London. The show was delivered with the mix of angry mediated grace and comedic self deprecation which comes from knowing exactly what you’re doing, and being sure to have fun while you’re doing it.
Walls of Jericho exploded into their set next; a non-stop barrage from start to finish. Candace kept a tyrannical reign over the stage, extending into the crowd above the mosh pit and stirring the revellers into a frenzy like some kind of hardcore sorceress. As I snapped the carnage, a pogo-ing guy flailed a fist and snapped the flash gun clean off my camera. But that was fine; without a photo pit, I was certainly invading their territory. Barely stopping to breathe, this band took the crowd through an eruptive outlet for their raw angry energy, and I could see they blatantly needed it, from the thin outline of people unwilling to jump, filled with everyone else who had something to get out of their system. It felt over too soon, like a furious trip that was suddenly gone, leaving us all wanting more.
In short, Walls of Jericho returned in 2016 and unleashed themselves upon a frenzied and enthusiastic crowd at The Borderline that night, with great support from SNFU!
Check out our Photo Gallery of the gig here!
1 comment
I was at that show and in a few of the pictures. Absolutely incredible night and brilliant review and pictures