10th September 99- Soundisciples and janus stark

What a night! I would finally see Janus Stark again (after exactly 2 month!!) and also the Soundisciples from Bristol. Also I had 2 friends from Switzerland I hadnt seen for more than a year, who were visiting London. I remembered that they used to go to the same festivals as I did, years ago, and so I decided to take them with me, to show them proudly some of the coolest newcomerbands Englands. Of course they had no idea who the 'Soundisciples' are or 'Janus Stark', so I told them that both those bands had been touring with Pitchshifter in April. Errr, Pitchshifter who? they asked. Well, nevermind then...

The LA2 wouldnt open untill 11pm, so we went to the Borderline (which is about 2 min walk from the LA2) where Soundisciples would be support for Kill II This in some special 'Metal Hammer' night. There was already some Metal band on stage, which I dont know the name of, but they werent bad at all. My friends didnt like them, so I asked which bands they are listening to at the moment (as I said, I hadnt talked to them them since more than a year). "mostly Jazz and classical music"....oooooops, what the fuck have I done.....no wonder they didnt like it much in here.

At about 9pm the Soundisciples came on stage. Their gig was amazing! The last time I had seen them they had supported Paradise Lost in the Scala, which is a quite big venue, which made it really difficult for them to get the crowd moving at all. Now in the very small Borderline it was just perfect. After 2 songs almost everyone in there was jumping around or at least doing some movings to the music. Although they still played those same songs from their album 'undefined' like 'Jesus biting nails', 'Chaos in motion', 'withdrawn from life' etc, I thought they had improved their live show a lot compared to the other 6 gigs of them that I had seen so far. It was loud and direct and the crowd got wild.

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After about 40 minutes it was finished and I thought "whoa, that was good", but looking at my friends made me immediately feel very bad. It was my fault that they had to pay Ł6 to see a gig they never wanted to see, to come to a club they never wanted to go to and to meet people they never wanted to meet. So I thought it was better NOT to watch Kill II This and we left.

(For those who missed this gig, Soundisciples play a headline gig in the 'red eye venue' in London 9th October 99! Go to see them, you wont regret it!)

It was about 10pm and the doors for the LA2, where Janus stark were going to play wouldnt open until 11pm so I had one hour to try to convince my friends that they might like Janus Stark better than Soundisciples ("they also got slow songs") but nothing worked to make them join me and I'm not even too sure if they are still my friends. Thats how things can go wrong, and so I went to the LA2 'all alone'. Nevermind then, I of course saw Zoe again (if you ever go to a Janus Stark gig, she is the girl who sells you the T-Shirts) and I first got lost in the LA2 (yeah, I've never been in there before). Stupid me, but I felt like the complete idiot already anyway, so nevermind.

The club got sort of crowded now and then I saw Shop who was bald now ("I just had to get rid of that") and later Gizz who was running around in a white overall with a huge Janus Stark sign on its back (I thought he was going to wear it for the gig, so I didnt take a picture for you all reading this now)

At about 0.30 Janus Stark, with a new drummer, who, as I was told, isnt the new drummer yet, came on stage after the usual introduction by Richie from Dubwar and started their set with Clique, which is a song from their album 'Great Adventure Cigar' (yeah, buy it!).

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Next was a great new song called Gatecrash, which Gizz dedicated to all the people who went to Reading 2 weeks before. Gatecrash is a wicked song, and together with 'headhunter' (which unfortunately wasnt played this eve) my favourite of the new ones I have heard. Next was another new one, which has been played at every gig I went to since April 99 and still is great: Personality Breakdown, that song for that movie soundtrack. Another 'dedication' follows: "this song goes to all liers in this world" and of course the song is called White Man speaks with fork tongue! Great! Everybody gets into it now, and although it isnt too crowded, people jump around and are having a good time. Gizz now changes the setlist and Every Little Thing Counts is played now. Most people know it, sing along, but Gizz isnt satisfied yet. After the song has finished he plays the chorus again and lets everyone sing along even louder.

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Another new tune follows, called OK Chicane, noone knows it and its not as powerful as for example Gatecrash or Personality Breakdown, so people get more quiet again. Next is a brandnew song, which I have never heard before, its called My Bionic Eye. It sounds quite melodic, but I would need a second listen to it before I can really tell anything about it. But the next song I know even better! The cover of the Who's Substitute follows, already a 'Janus Stark live classic' I can say, and people go crazy once more!

Same goes for the next song, which everybody should know: Floyd, what are you on!, which still is THE Janus Stark hammer song! But already the last song follows, which is Dynamo, also taken from the album Great Adventure Cigar, and, once again with the most impressing guitar part I've seen for a while.

As soon as its finished they leave the stage and Rammsteins 'Du Hast' comes out of the speakers. Damnit already finished...it was a bit too short in my opinion, they could/should have added 'Headhunter' and 'Barriers' to the setlist, but nevermind, it was a great gig after all!!

Your next chance to see Janus Stark live is 1st October 99 again in the LA2 (London) where they support Rachel Stamp!