Tunbridge Wells Forum is at capacity tonight: it is as sold out as sold out shows come. Tonight, the duo that are Slaves play a one-off hometown show because, well, why the hell not!? And with them they bring support in the form of grunge two-piece Fucoco and Glaswegian trio Baby Strange.Fuoco kick of proceedings with some intense grunge. The crowd, although lacking in size, are attentive to the growls, screams and quite frankly disturbing posture and faces that James Gale pulls. Despite their lack of material and experience, Fuoco's set is a pleasure to watch and one which means they leave with a few more fans than they arrived with. Baby Strange follow with an equally pleasurable set, the only difference is that these boys have drawn a serious crowd. Whilst not quite the 300 people Slaves will stand in front of in an hours time, the boys create mayhem on the floor beneath: kids bounce up and down and into one another and it's clear that Baby Strange aren't just cocksure showmen, they carry a bag of awesome tunes with them too.
Slaves finally take the stage after hanging around at the back of the crowd in their matching leather coats and pork pie hats for the past hour or so. It's safe to say at this point, carnage erupts. Young kids run into one another and proper adults relive a sound similar to that which they pogo-ed to in their youth. Isaac and Laurie play with visceral energy, integrity and honesty throughout and the crowd absolutely love it. Paradoxically, their old school punk mayhem is fresher than most things on the scene these days and it's thrillingly fun. Isaac gives his traditional pre-song stories (Where's Your Car, Debbie?) to which the crowd applaud and Laurie regularly banters with those who want to take him on. They speed through the likes of Cease Fire, Cheer Up London, Beauty Quest, She Grew Old and newest single Feed The Mantaray. It's during the latter that the boys are joined on stage by a man dressed as mantaray who then goes on to crowd surf like he was at home in the sea. It's this sort of humour that makes their set tonight all the more special. Slaves are a band that always give 200% and what's exciting is that this is only the start of their career. If tonight proves anything, it's that there's no stopping them now!
On a personal note, major props to the 50 year old woman who stood in front of me with her husband, drinking Bishops Finger's and shouting several times, "get yer vest off" at Isaac. You, my friend, are a hero.
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