Live Review: Converge, Old Man Gloom & Safe Hands

Newcastle's Safe Hands were a perfect pick to open up for Converge. The assembled throng lapped up their hyperkinetic brand of (dare we say it) Converge-esque hardcore with genuine enthusiasm.

Whereas Safe Hands were a natural fit on the bill, Old Man Gloom, which happens to be Converge bassist Nate Newtown's side project, provided a direct contrast in sound. The quartet's brand of sludgy and tortuous rock was tar thick and crushingly heavy. If truth be told, aside from a small band of devotees up the front, most of the audience didn't really know how to react to Old Man Gloom's slow flowing waves of enveloping sound and consequently their set was something of lull between that of Safe Hands and Converge.

If anything Converge were more precise and primal live than they are on wax. By the time the band lurched into the sonic blitzkrieg of Dark Horse the pit had lost its collective shit and the boys had us eating out of the palms of their hands. While his bandmates were content to hold their positions on the stage, frontman Jacob Bannon threw himself around like a rag doll – one minute traversing the stage side to side and the next heading down to the barrier to offer the microphone to the faithful who were screaming every word to every song. The vast majority of the set was culled from Jane Doe and the band's successive albums. The current LP, All That We Love We Leave Behind, was particularly well represented in the form of the title track, the pummelling Trespasses, the claustrophobic Empty On The Inside, the aptly named A Glacial Pace and the freewheeling Aimless Arrow. After delivering their flawless set Converge sauntered off the stage leaving the crowd wanting more. There's a reason these guys are the darlings of the music press – they are unique, relentless and somehow completely unpretentious all at the same time. Even by Converge's high standards this was a very impressive outing.