SPRING LOADED RAISES THE ROOF

The arrival of Ash, Gomez, Funeral for a Friend and six up-and-coming bands in Cornwall on the weekend was a momumental occasion for the county and the live music scene in particular, writes Christian Murison. Cornwall has been starved of quality original live acts for far too long, but it looks more and more likely that all that's about to change thanks to local music promoters SW1 Productions.

Spring Loaded, a three-day live music extravaganza held at the Hall For Cornwall in Truro between Friday 28 and Sunday May 30 was the first real sign that things are changing and with the promise of more such quality acts to follow, things are finally looking good for Cornwall's music lovers.

First up on Friday were The Crimea, a five-piece alternative rock band who have quickly built up a large and fully-developed loyal fanbase. The Crimea kicked off Spring Loaded in style as they stormed through an impressive set including songs from their new album Tragedy Rocks. Ash made their debut appearance in Truro to the delight of fans out in force. Frontman Tim Wheeler made quite an impressive entrance as the band took to the stage. A tight and powerful adrenaline-fuelled set that included ten tracks from the bands' excellent album, Meltdown, the soundtrack to the summer of 2004, including blistering renditions of Clones, Renegade Cavalcade and Out Of The Blue. The band also included some of their biggest hits from their ten-year history.

They returned for an encore which saw them rip into guitar-heavy renditions of Petrol and On A Wave, which Tim dedicated to Surfers Against Sewage, before finishing on a high with Burn Baby Burn, which sent the crowd wild as Ash rocked the venue to its core. Saturday saw a mixed reaction to Gomez and Thirteen Senses but the most impressive of the three gigs was Sunday night, which played host to a four-band rock feast. First up were The Bled, a fantastic new band who soon had the younger gig-goers crowd surfing to excess. It's not often the first band on a bill like this pull it off, but The Bled were awesome and delivered the best performance of all four. Next up were 36 Crazyfists, who put in a devastating performance.

My Chemical Romance, an American rock'n'roll band, soon had the majority of the place jumping up and down. A solid set of pure punk rock from great musicians. Expect them to take off later this year when they release their second album here in the UK. Then to headline act Welsh emo rockers Funeral for a Friend, who gave a strong crowd-pleasing performance from start to finish. The band's highly charged, yet slightly short set was packed with songs to keep the moshers and crowd surfers happy. Overall, a truly triumphant trio of gigs. Keep supporting original live bands and Surfers Against Sewage and we might get to see lots more quality gigs like this in Cornwall.

By Christian Murison

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