InMe - Aldershot West End Centre, UK (9.13.02)
Posted by Phil McCann on 09.17.2002
The next BIG thing?
For those of you who don’t know InMe they are England’s latest rock
sensations. Hard to describe their style, but either nu-metal or just hard
rock pretty much hits the nail on the head. The three piece band show
energy, emotion and dedication in their music and despite the two and a half
hour trip to Aldershot (think middle of frickin’ nowhere), I was pretty damn
happy to be at one of their gigs.
So the West End Centre: a tiny school hall with pretty good acoustics and
relatively cheap drinks. However £12 for a shirt and £25 for a hoodie…that’s
more than the ticket, hell the hoodie cost more than the round-trip. Anyway,
not that I bought any merchandise, but useful to know nonetheless.
InMe was a good enough prospect, but the line-up included two more hot bands
from England: Thirst and Kinesis, with Thirst being the more well known, yet
still opening up the gig.
First things Thirst…oh dear, anyway they opened up the gig with a mixture of
the old school Incubus guitar riffs and a weird, melodic speaking tone
vocalist who sounded like The Streets, or maybe some underground garage
band, anyway they hit the right chord with the crowd who went from being
impatient for the headliners, to rocking along with the pounding rhythms,
and even starting some large, violent pits (well at least for a school hall
anyway). To sum up- a good opener, with some pretty good variations on the
tried and tested rock themes.
By now the crowd was buying whatever the promoters were selling, and next up
was brash, loud and proud band Kinesis. Another hybrid sound they played
along to Hives-like riffs, and screaming Vines’ vocals. Their set was mixed
with a few repetitive songs, and their general vibe wasn’t of a band going
up in the world, but they were high energy and again just what the crowd
needed before the main attraction.
And so to InMe, a band much hyped and much praised, but one who’s songs can
only really be discovered online or through buying their one and only (until
today that is) single. However, their songs were well received and the
amount of people chanting along with the lyrics showed that the fans were
definitely in their corner.
They opened with a song that in no way encompasses their style, but
nonetheless gives a taste of their energy: ‘Crushed Like Fruit’. Starting
off with a long guitar mix, the song elated the crowd, and served only to
raise expectations for the playing of their popular single ‘Underdose’.
However first a few relatively unknown songs were used to warm-up the crowd.
‘Icewarm’ and ‘Energy’, both songs from the upcoming album showed real
promise and left the crowd with the idea that ‘Underdose’ was no one shot
deal, this band had more to offer.
In at number five was ‘Underdose’, an incredibly powerful song with
feel-good guitars mixed with the chorus ‘It’s all gone wrong’, and however
this song can only elicit elation from a crowd, especially one in such high
spirits as on Friday night. The live version of the song had a harder edge
than the single and really did ensure that the crowd went home happy…of
course they had a long time to wait, as the set was less than half-finished.
The second track from the ‘Underdose’ single, called ‘Gelosea’ is a
masterpiece in itself. The well-used chorus, mixed with a catchy tune equals
surely an album place for the B-side, which turned out to be one of the most
popular performances in the set. Also impressing was the second single
‘Firefly’ a largely mellow song, merging into an extremely powerful rock
song, and a song that definitely impressed live, a general rule for the
evening.
Rounding off an excellent night was ‘Lava Twilight’, the bands most commonly
known unreleased song, and one that proved to steal the show. An extremely
powerful beginning, the song had extra power live as the bassist and
vocalist/guitarist jumped round the stage showing their age (or lack
thereof) and igniting an already hot crowd into a rumble of moshing and
jumping, leaving the hundred or so fans almost disappointed when the band
said goodnight and stopped to sign autographs.
So what of InMe? Will they make it? Judging on this performance, I’d say so.
They were definitely aided by two support bands that spurned some excellent
live songs and a great audience, but they played their part perfectly and
showed grace in doing so. Just on the edge of making it, this tiny gig in
Aldershot may be remembered as one of the last steps the band take to
greatness, and I was there to see it.
The 411: A great live band, and with only three weeks until their album ‘Overgrown Eden’ comes out only the best can be hoped for…
