Bank Holiday Monday’s are generally spent recovering from an extra day of weekend goodness – relaxing and refreshing the senses before heading back for the happily shortened week to follow.
What better way to round off such a day than to head down to Audio to see Electric Eel Shock; the Japanese rockers, tear Glasgow a new one.
For those as uninitiated in the ways of Eel Shock as I was, the trio are the sort of band who thrive on live performance; within seconds of taking to the stage they have the ‘very-sizable-for-a-school-night’ crowd lined up front and centre eating from the palms of their hands.
Their drummer, Gian, dutifully strips down to a tastefully placed (and rather generous) sock, and joined his band-mates (Aki on guitars and vocals, Kazuto on bass) in a crescendo of pure noise before launching into a tight set of joyous metal.
A couple of tunes in and the crowd are gleefully shouting ‘bastard’ at near enough everything in the building, particularly Kazuto who is happily climbing the monitors to goad the crowd while Aki insists that he and everyone else in the place are in fact bastards – Gian by this point is dusting at the back of the stage with his sock.
Other highlights from the exuberant set include a cover of Wurzel’s classic ‘I Am A Cider Drinker’, during which the band’s tour manager takes the stage in a rather fetching sailor outfit and proceeds to bounce about in the manner of a comedian famed for ‘breaking his neck’ while crowd surfing in a wheelie bin.
The Electric Eel Shock experience is endlessly entertaining, tirelessly energetic and possessing a catalogue of metal riffs that chin-scratchers and head-bangers alike would love; they are a touring band of the highest order that seemingly treat every gig like a top-slot at a festival.
Words: Angus MacDonald
Photos: Ann Margaret Campbell
