Vanity Draws Blood @ The Fighting Cocks (Kingston Upon Thames, UK) on December 11, 2014 [Show Review]

Thursday, December 11th saw Vanity Draws Blood headlining an intimate gig at the Fighting Cocks in Kingston Upon Thames. With enough talent to shake a jagged stick at and in the knowledge that this would be VDB’s drummer Frazer Welsh’s last ever show with them, the night was set to be an emotional one.

Kicking off the night was nu-metal/post-hardcore band Sufferance who pack enough punch to take out a baby Walrus. The four-piece band from Croydon pulled in an impressive starting crowd and sported some great clean vocals as well as a powerful message whispered throughout their final song, which they likened to one of the influences, Rage Against The Machine.

Check out the song “Fractured”

Next up were female fronted band Evyltyde who boasted the exceptional vocal talents of Hannah Delany. I have rarely seen a female vocalist be so goddamn on point I felt like I was listening to the actual recording. With some awesome guitar solos and a tight, reminiscent-of-the-’80s set, these guys really brought some groove to the night.

Following the angelic, yet powerful vocals of Evyltyde was A Room Swept White. Unfortunately for the band, vocalist Ryan Elliot was MIA due to a case of something unpleasant by the sounds of it. Having said that I actually enjoyed hearing a band play without lead vocals. It gave me more time to focus on and listen to the background. All was not lost though as Kerrie Alexander of VDB stepped in to cover for the final song of the rest, which made for an almighty ending. Having spent the last few hours walking around with headphones on learning the song, it’s safe to say Kerrie’s attempt at filling in for Ryan was an extremely successful one.

Having blown the energy up in the room by several notches, following the explosive final exit of ARSW, Vanity Draws Blood was finally up and the crowd gathered eagerly, hotly anticipating what was to come. Opening up with the melodic, hauntingly beautiful soundscape of “I Witness,” the intro to their 2014 EP of the same name, the mood shifted abruptly as they burst into the next songs, “Purgatory,” “Stay Blind” and “Eulogy”. The crowd pushed forward to get closer to the stage, people violently threw down left, right and centre, and sweaty bodies linked arms and jumped up and down as the band went from strength to strength with incomparable ferocity.

Ryan and Kerrie’s vocals work together so well, especially with the tight instrumental support of Luke, Frazer, Elliot and Charlie. Finally my favourite song of the night came on, “Fractured,” and it was incredible to see the whole room shouting the lyrics back at the band. You could tell everyone was really connected to them, particularly with this song. With Ryan and Kerrie’s theatrical and charismatic on-stage personas, which include more eagle stomps than you can shake the aforementioned jagged stick at, and what appear to be psychologically challenging moments, you can’t not want to see these guys again, and soon.

The night was finished off with a brief departure from both vocalists to allow the rest of the band to play the instrumentally perfect, and stunningly beautiful track, “Departed,” after which the two vocalists returned to end with their final track of the night, “Greed.” That blew the fucking rood off and my back still hasn’t forgiven me for the manic head banging and foot stomping that ensued. In a nutshell, another successful night at the Fighting Cocks.

Check out the song “No Love Lost”