The Doncaster Dome is a grand venue and it gives access to music for those in East and North Yorkshire who are, for the most part starved of top-level acts – you would think that they could afford some bloody air conditioning then, eh? That notwithstanding, Pendulum rock the house tonight with their emotive electro-dance-rock sound and a set made up of “classic” tunes as well as the best new material (well, not the killer ‘Self vs Self‘ featuring In Flames…obviously) but still, it’s pretty good.
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After a frankly sub-par (but very colourful) set from acclaimed DJ Sub Focus (what? Tonight we need guitars to keep us entertained people!) and before the arrival of our genre-crossing heroes Pendulum, the antici…pation in the sweat-filled Dome air is immense.
After what seems like an eternity in hell’s boiler room. the multi-national genre-benders explode on to the stage and throw themselves into their most accessible and hard-hitting tracks from the latest chart-topping new album, ‘Immersion‘ including the defiant-yet-melodic, ‘Under The Waves‘ (incorporating The Verse Ben Mount doing his usual bit jumping around the stage like a lunatic getting the crowd “in the mood” (as if they needed the help), while the band puts its collective heart, soul and machines into developing and building the pace and tone of the gig.
As the group launches into future anthem ‘Witchcraft‘ (by the way, this tune incorporates Rob Swire‘s best and most affecting vocal performance ever in our opinion), it’s clear to see that while Pendulum have gone back to their dance-heavy roots (ala’ ‘Hold Your Colour‘) on this new album (the eponymous track from that first record being another blazing highlight from tonight’s show). The six-piece has still managed to cling on to enough of the alt-rock attitude that littered their second effort ‘In Silco‘ on disk (and live) to keep all corners of their diverse fanbase happy with some blistering guitar work and progressive drum beats overlapping the fierce electro waves.
Once the band runs through their defining dancefloor stomper ‘Propane Nightmares‘ to close off the night, one can easily see (and hear) that, alongside their buddies The Prodigy (from whom they nicked and remixed ‘Voodoo People‘ only to turn it up to 11 and make it their own live standout), Pendulum are at the very top when it comes to creating a mutant hybrid of rock and electronics. At no other show will you see hardcore ravers slamming it in a pit with metallers unless there was some sort of real violence taking place. So, hats off to you Pendulum, we are pretty frickin’ hot right now but you definitely have it much worse and still manage to put on a storming show. Nice work.
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