STATIC-X
WEDNESDAY 13/SOIL/DOPE
ELECTRIC BALLROOM, LONDON
LA’s nu metal heroes pay tribute to their late frontman
is packed. This is one of those rare occasions where ‘Sold out’ really does mean sold out. go on at an absurdly early time, but they’re as average as ever. acts like he’s headlining and intelligently tailors his set to his more cyber-gothy material. Although it’s visually great, it’s all a bit sub-Zombie. bring their song to town, many watches are checked before they wheeze through . But none of this matters when arrive. Once you get over the shock of seeing a zombified carbon copy of sadly departed frontman Wayne Static (we know nothing about this individual other than bassist Tony Campos referring to him as XerO) approach the mic, this evening is a reminder of just how many great songs Static-X had in their arsenal. Admittedly, it does take some time to work out if this is a touching and tasteful tribute or an odd and slightly mawkish thing to do, but the number of times that Wayne’s visage appears on the screen and is cheered and chanted throughout the gig does convince us that it is the latter. What really makes tonight a winner is that Static-X do sound great. The songs from debut album , played in full if out of sequence tonight, have aged shockingly well; the title track, and the anthemic closer still sound heavy, groovy, irresistibly danceable and unique as their ‘evil-disco’ moniker would suggest. On paper, this evening could have been a car crash. Instead, it’s a timely reminder of the talent of one of metal’s fallen brethren. Static-X live on.
