Live Review: Motions / Rare Breed / Beatnik – NE Volume Music Bar, Stockton 09.09.2023


Craig Young

A sweaty night of local talent was promised as Teesside metal band Motions took to the NE Volume stage for the first time.

Beatnik opened the show bringing with them a huge following and the tunes to match. Looking like a collection of musical decades, they certainly looked the part. They filled the stage with catchy numbers and a youthful confident swagger. Not many bands have me dreaming of being in a band again but these guys had me remembering the addictive camaraderie that a good band thrives on. These guys have a bright future ahead if they keep doing what they are doing.

Rare Breed picked up the energy left by Beatnik whipping up the crowd with the bands main singer/guitarist leaving the stage several times. Their two guitars and two singers pop punk was well received by the crowd who lapped up the energy. They laid down some tracks full of snappy guitar hooks that spanned their time as a band, from an early one written when they were 15 to a song they wrote that very week which was a particular highlight of their set.

Motions came on the stage to a heavy version of ‘He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands’ and a burst of the fog machine. Made up of a slightly older average than the previous two bands, they still had the young crowd enthralled with their brutal barrage of metal. Orchestrating some mosh pit action as they rampaged through their set.

The bassist prowled, the drummer couldn’t stop grinning as the guitarist stood stock still grinding out the often intricate riffs. The guitarist and drummer in particular, who worked some magic with his limited kit, made up that barrage of metal, keeping the sound heavy yet clear allowing the intricate guitar work to come through. The guttural vocals of the singer cut through the mix bringing both the emotive impact and adding a harsh tone to the bands sound.

Motions brought a night of solid brutal metal that did not let up or disappoint and with their new track ‘Save Myself’ sounding as good as their first album it’s a promising future ahead of them.

Previous Live Review: Dethklok / BabyMetal / Jason Richardson - The Agora, Cleveland 06.09.2023
Next Live Review: Reco - Grand Social, Dublin, 11.09.2023, plus gallery

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