Rescue Rooms, Nottingham ~ Now, it isn’t often that support acts get reviewed - and there’s probably a good reason for that - but sometimes, only sometimes mind, a support act deserves more than a passing mention in the headline review, and this is one of those occasions because Lost Society are more than capable of holding their own and headlining any gig – and it has to be said that whoever chose them as Support for Blind Channel knew exactly what they were doing; and yes, there may be a bit of nepotism there with the Finns sticking together, but does it really matter?
Lost Society are a dozen years and four albums to the good (with a fifth on the way) and have played in the UK on a fair few occasion - and in this very venue too - but all that was 10 years ago now and that is 10 years too long. The good and kind people of Nottingham remembered them enough and gave them a really good reception when they launched themselves on stage and you knew they’d arrived as it was loud, proud and full-on from the get-go, opening with ‘Stitches’ taken from the new album ‘If the Sky Came Down’ due for release later this year (ish). Other singles from the same album ‘112’ and ‘What Have I Done’ also followed, showing that they’ve moved a bit towards the groove metal arena than the thrash metal band that they were in their early days perhaps.
Front man Samy Elbanna, who must win the award for most tattooed man in Nottinghamshire - on that night anyway - went through the motions acting as if he knew everybody in the crowd on a personal basis and remembering them all from the last time. Heavily supported by Arttu Lesonen on lead / rhythm and Mirko Lehtinen on bass, the front-line showed all their experience of having played together for a decade or more, and with ‘new’ drummer, Taz Fagerström providing a thudding and fast paced back beat, they knew exactly why they were there and what was expected of them. 45 minutes later and Nottingham were well warmed up and ready for a headline act.
Oh, one last thing… as an ex-drummer, I must doff my cap to Fagerström. None of this 4 drum / 1 tom nonsense that seems to be the only rule of thumb for every drummer on the planet these days, this man has a seven-piece with twin kicks - and let’s be honest who doesn’t love a twin kick kit.
Written for Rock at Night Magazine
Full set of images are here