Wednesday 14/02/2024 - Thekla, Bristol
Wednesday evening and a mad dash down the M5 in the rain after work for a little Valentine's Day date with my youngest brother. On Bristol’s Mud Dock, the venue tonight was the former cargo ship Thekla, wow what a cool and unusual venue, my first gig afloat. Crossing the gangplank and then making my way down past the odd port hole into the belly of the hull I was ready to enjoy a night with two bands that I admit I had not listened to before. The evening had ties to Leeds-based Industrial Groove band the Sisters of Mercy, with the frontmen for both bands tonight also providing guitars and backing vocals for the current Sisters lineup.
Opening proceedings were dark-rock outfit DIAMOND BLACK, fronted by Bristol’s own Ben Christo on guitar along with (visual wizard) Adam Hart on bass and Jan-Vincent Velazco behind the drums (who was pulling a double shift for both bands). Briefly joined by guitarist Yusuke Okamoto (again we will see more from him later on in the night). What followed was a 40-minute set packed with hard-rock instrumentals mixed with powerful heartfelt lyrics along with sometimes hard hitting themes from Ben. Diamond Black will definitely be a band that I keep an eye on.
The main event, Japanese electro-metalers ESPRIT D’AIR, fronted by the multi-talented Kai (vocals, guitar, production and all things marketing/booking/management, a real one-man army leading this project), along with Yusuke back on guitar, Takeshi on bass and Jan-Vincent (again) up on the drum riser. A set filled with energy, amazing visuals (from both the lights and ever-changing LED screen) and heavy electronic influences melding with melodic riffs, the headline show was fast-paced from start to finish. Esprit D'Air must be a real passion project for Kai and it really shows in their performance.
A brief technical interlude where Takeshi MC’d to entertain the crowd, but sadly the vehemently requested bass solo never did materialize.
Ben was back onstage during the encore to perform the co-written lyrically hard-hitting Dead Zone, before closing out with the absolute banger that is Leviathan. Esprit D'Air were truly a force to be reckoned with and looking around the crowd and the t-shirts on display they clearly have a very devoted fan base.
