Following the success of Exit_International and Castrovalva’s co-headline tour in late 2012, it was only natural that they would wind up doing it again. Fast forward about nine months and here we are, with Zero Guitars Maximum Filth Tour 2.
We missed the openers, but next up was Enamel Animal, who were another great local band with a fantastic stage presence. Their frontman had an incredibly versatile voice, easily switching between harsh and melodic vocals at the drop of a hat, and the instrumentation throughout was simply awesome. They fit in well on the bill and put on a fantastically entertaining show.
It was then time to ditch the guitars with the arrival of the fantastic Castrovalva, who’d co-ordinated their shirts to match, with matching ‘C’s on them. Always a wonderfully engaging live band, this gig was no exception and they were just off the wall. Singer Leemun is like a man possessed when placed in a live environment, really putting his all into each and every performance, and is a fantastically engaging frontman. A nice and noisy set from start to finish, they were on top form. If you haven’t seen this three-piece yet, then what are you waiting for?
Headlining the Liverpool date of the tour was Exit_International. Having been a fan of this band since their inception and attending countless shows of theirs, it’s fairly safe to say that by now I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to this band – and this performance was easily one of their best. It really seems that their new album Our Silence Is Golden was made for a live environment, as all the new material was jaw-droppingly awesome to witness in the flesh; even the older stuff paled in comparison and a particular highlight was their performance of Fuck Yeah! Depression. For the first time in as long as I can remember, their set didn’t finish with the raucous Hey Disciple and instead they closed with brand new track Sod Off Punk, but if anything, this one had double the energy and momentum, and was an extremely satisfying close to a top-notch show. Absolutely incredible stuff.
10/10
