Source: Promo Image
The South-African grunge rockers, Seether, first came into the spotlight back in 2002 with the release of their debut Disclaimer and have since released five more albums spawning a number of hits, with their latest offering from 2014, Isolate and Medicate hitting number one on the Billboard Top Rock Album Charts.
Tonight it’s all about the music as both bands stay virtually mute between songs, keeping banter to a minimum. Local London trio Lieutenant bring the great alternative rock and roll tunes with a mix of Wolfmother and Led Zeppelin, but lack charisma as the gaps are filled with awkward jamming and jokes made between the frontman and bassist that the audience clearly aren’t in on. Nevertheless, their sound of rock-by-numbers gets your toe tapping and as they turn more progressive before their exit, they manage to get a few heads nodding. In summary, you could listen to the band on Spotify and still enjoy them just as much.
Seether take a similar approach to speaking on stage, keeping the focus on the music, while bassist Dale Stewart and touring guitarist Bryan Wickmann exert the most energy and interact with the fans. Frontman Shaun Morgan resembles a retiring Kurt Cobain as he stands left of the stage, brooding in the darkness, hidden behind his unkempt maroon locks. The moment they kick into ‘Gasoline’ the crowd are on their side and stay rocking with them through ‘Needles’ and ‘Rise Above This’. Signifying the halfway point of the show, half the band leaves the stage leaving Morgan and Wickmann to play an acoustic rendition of one of their earliest breakthrough hits, ‘Broken’. While Morgan now seems emotionally detached from the song and lets the audience sing half of it, it’s still a highlight of the show even 13 years after its release.
After a drum solo from John Humphrey the band return on stage to end the show with fan-favourites ‘Fake It’ and ‘Remedy’, two of their biggest hits to date and those tracks are always sure to get even the most reserved of spectators up and dancing. While the quartet don’t seem as energetic as usual and are slightly underwhelming, it’s still good to see them alive and kicking with their classic hits still sounding as solid as ever.
