Wednesday 15/08/07 Zico Chain, Ghost Of A Thousand @ Barfly, London

With a rotating headliner on this tour, it’s Ghost Of A Thousand’s turn to take the stage first tonight. The band may only be old enough to grow but the dodgiest of ‘taches, but what they lack in age they make up for in musicianship and confidence. And from the raw rock energy erupting from the tunes they pound out tonight, its understandable how they have garnered such a spirited fan base so quickly. Furious vocals are thrown over a wide range of guitar influences embracing every influence from brutal metal to the more considered playing of bands such as Avenged Sevenfold and At The Drive-in. Keeping things tight and raising the roof, its likely these boys will do well in the long run.

While Ghost of a Thousand may be gaining a good reputation, its unfortunate that Zico Chain already have one. Portrayals of the band as a half-arsed grunge revivalist group have been rampant. Yet this performance indicates this is only a superficial interpretation. Certainly, this is a band that feeds off of crowd energy, but with a crowd going wild for them they are never less than 100%. While all heavy, loose and loud, the set list tonight does have a musical range to it. ‘Junk’ is as much hard rock as anything else out there, while soon-to-be-your-anthem ‘Where Would You Rather Be’ owes its dues to Marilyn Manson. While ‘About A Boy’ may be a simple gender inversion of a popular Nirvana song, the differences are stark.

Such comparisons should not however detract from the individuality of this band. If anything the attendance gives away Zico’s widespread appeal. As singer Chris Glithero points out, there are “punks…rockers…even some ****ing suits” at this gig. All here to witness music at its rawest and thus its best. ‘Pretty Pictures’ and ‘Food’ are evidence of this, along with the rest of the setlist of storming numbers, designed to rattle any critic that would dare to black mark them.

In some respects these bands are opposites. Ghost of a Thousand scream (sorry I mean speak) to an emerging generation of rock fans, Zico Chain sing to an audience who remember the glory days of UK alt rock. Yet by many degrees these bands are the same. They’re bringing the energy, the spirit and more importantly the talent back to UK music. And judging from the crowd tonight it’s very much welcomed.