Neo Choline

Gig Reviews

Academy Unsigned 235b
Academy 3
16/01/08

Hmm. First off; great drumming. Keen ears could here the interesting drum work coming out from behind the fairly standard riffing and sound. A drum solo was a treat; this guy should maybe hook up with the drummer from Beckonsale (metal; if you’re reading this then you should really check them out).
Drumming aside. This wasn’t as great as I expected it to be. Neo Choline are recording an album, have been around for quite a while, and have headlined quite a few shows. This just didn’t live up to it. For a start, they played two Sum 41 covers, and new versions of ‘Umbrella’ by Rihanna, and ‘Like a Prayer;’ Madonna. The Sum 41 covers were pretty faithful, and the re-working of ‘Umbrella’ did actually make the song better, but it did seem to be a bit of a popularity stunt. Especially because covers and re-makes of popular songs got the loudest cheers, and crowd movement. I was expecting a lot of Neo Choline original songs; perhaps this was a one off bad gig. There’s certainly talent here; ‘An Ode to Someone You Don’t Know’ fused many styles, and their first two songs didn’t come across as having any genre restraints. An average score, but they’ve certainly turned my head.

5/10

Set list:

1. ‘Intro’
2. ‘Cyclopath’
3. ‘An Ode to Someone You Don’t Know’
4. ‘Words’
5. ‘Umbrella’
6. ‘Songs For The Blind’
7. ‘Like A Prayer’
8. ‘Fat Lip/Pain For Pleasure’ (cover)
9. ‘Deceit Of Forever’
10. ‘Trapped Inside’

Matt