Resin at Christmas

Saturday 12th December 2015

Words: Trevor Locke. Photos: Kevin Gaughan.

The Firebug with Sumer, Temple of Lies, Stonepit Drive and Pelugion.

The Resin Christmas party has become something of a pilgrimage for metal fans from far and wide. Even though it was a wet evening, the upstairs room at The Firebug was full of people. Musically the line-up was loud and heavy and more than enough to blow away those winter cobwebs.

Heavy rockers from Coventry Pelugion certainly thawed out the crowd who had come in from a cold wet night in Leicester. Certainly everyone I spoke to said they were completely awesome. This trio of rock musicians say they are influenced by the heavier bands ‘both old and new’ and started their career by playing Black Sabbath and Metallica covers before beginning to write their own material. They have released their first EP – Serpents Mistress. The band is looked after by FAT Angel Management. Tonight’s performance at The Firebug was awesomely good.

Find out more about Pelugion

The Resin Christmas party is an established event in Leicester’s annual cycle of big gigs and organiser Simon Yarwood (Sime) has kept the tradition going, offering Champagne to fans as they come in and providing an elaborate cake to enhance the festivities. The room was decked with coloured lights and some fans had donned Santa hats to add to the festive ambience of the occasion.

Stonepit Drive had come over from Kettering, in Northamptonshire, to play for us tonight. With their set of magnificent melodic rock tunes, they were a hit with the crowd. I particularly liked their song Set In Stone, a very fine piece of music; it had the crowd clapping their hands in the air.

Stonepit Drive has a website.
and you can find them on Facebook.

Resin Events has become an authoritative brand for quality live music; a kite mark you can trust to bring you the best bands. Simon Yarwood and his colleagues certainly know what they are doing when it comes to selecting top bands.

Get information about Resin Events.

Leicester band Temples of Lies has played at previous Resin gigs. Lead singer Si Shaw delivered plenty of drama, projecting the feeling of the songs into the room. Songs with a lot of punch and resonance and vocals with passion and traction – all good stuff. Volcanic in fact; in intensity.

Follow Temples of Lies on Facebook.

It was good to see a room full of people at a gig on a wet December night. Firebug’s upstairs room is one of the larger venues in the city and there was no shortage of other gigs happening tonight; so it was good to see such a large crowd supporting the show here tonight. It’s good to see that metal, as a genre, can still pull a big crowd. In Leicester, genres generally tend to be a bit fragmentary and metal, as one of them, offers more flavours than an Italian ice cream stall.

London’s post-metal, prog rock, crossover band Sumer gave an astonishingly good performance. Dramatic melodies that sounded like nu-metal to me, they had all the mix of strong, compelling sounds that Resin brought us. Sumer had played before at one of Resin’s gigs. Big soaring vocal lines, plenty of presence, cart loads of colour and atmosphere, it was a set that drew wildly enthusiastic acclaim from the audience. The band’s two vocalists Ian Hill and Tim Bonney were fantastic, pouring out massive vocal lines fuelled by relentless energy. This is a band that is technically amazing, delivering complex rhythms so finely interwoven that it was difficult to tell which guitars were playing what. Many members of the crowd just stood completely wrapped up in the sound, mesmerised by what they were hearing.

Sumer on Facebook.

The finale of tonight’s show saw Resin on stage, its members now being Dave Grandon (Vocals, guitar), Mark Chez Roseby (guitar, vocals), Simon Yarwood (guitar), Drask on vocals and bass and Stu Reynolds on the drums. Resin’s first song was one I am sure I have heard somewhere before: Clouds. A classic piece with a memorable melody. Dave Grandon’s vocals had plenty of expression. From the opening guitar parts and drum beats, sounds full of character filled the room and then the melody came in with that iconic break. Dark chords offset by powerful chords and soaring vocal lines. It was magnificent.

Initially Resin was influenced by Alice In Chains, Stone Temples Pilots and other familiar sounds, giving a modern twist to the grunge of the 90s. As our reporter Steve Kilminster said of them in 2013 ‘OK, I’ll put it out there right away, Resin know how to throw a party! ‘

Songs performed by Resin tonight:

Clouds, Burn, Blood of angels, Printing money, Shitstorm, Poison, Open heart trauma and
Monster.

Quote of the night: “Merry Fuckin’ Christmas.”

Find out more about Resin from the band’s website.

You can see Resin again on December 17th at The Firebug. Join this event on Facebook.

See also:

See all Kevin Gaughan’s photos from the show.

Resin’s Christmas show of 2014.

Resin’s show at the Firebug in 2013.

Our feature article on Resin.

Our round-up of music in December