by Rob Kendrick

This is my first time at Rock City - Nottingham and I have to say it is an impressive venue, multiple rooms and a cap of over 2,000, it has stood for 30 years and it also has working Air-conditioning!

I entered the upstairs disco and Aesthetic Perfection are performing first. They have improved vastly since I last saw them supporting Combichrist last year. I am stricken by the lack of reaction from the audience toward AF's energetic and enthusiastic performance. They lay down some solid beats and strong bass lines surely enough to make even the most impatient Combi' fan bob their head.

Between shows many leave the floor and fetch drinks (with increased 'band prices')leaving gaps in the crowd so we move closer to the stage and into a stream of ice cold from the air conditioning, the floor packs up some more when Mortiis enter the stage. Their makeup and attires are very well done, as is their set list. I've been a fan of Mortiis for some time but never experienced them live. Even the mismatch of sound levels couldn't stop the Industrial legends Mortiis from kick starting a larger portion of the audience into throwing themselves into the air with fists and heads rolling.

This is my third time seeing Combichrist live. I knew roughly what to expect; an almost constant raw from the crowd, tired feet from jumping around the dance floor and a very entertaining stage act, ohh and being called "Cleveland". I got two of those. It pains me to see that only a quarter of the room looked to appreciate Combichrist's awesome opening with "Shut up and Swallow". From that quarter,an instant raw and waves of bouncing chaos ensued. They went on to feed us material from their latest album "Making Monsters" hits like "Never Surrender" and "Throat full of glass" went down a treat for those dedicated Combichrist Fans. Both similar drum kits of Joe Letz and Trevor Friedrich were beat in unison for most of "Never Surrender" to make an incredible display, and with guitarist Abbey Nex to deliver some outstanding riffs to perfectly compliment Z Marr's electronics, this song is soon to be a historic favourite among Combi' Fans alongside "Get your body beat" and "Electrodhead". Because of Rock City's unique entry system, anyone can enter any part of the building providing they pay the entrance fee first. So many of the room had wondered and were in fact killing the atmosphere. Andy LaPlegua pushed through the intermissions and just played a continuous set, totally unlike my other two gigs. They played magnificently, every band member were on top form. The much anticipated "Get your body beat" began playing and the room suddenly sparked to life (slightly more of the room anyway).

However, I could obviously see the frustration growing in each band member. In Joe Letz (the drummer) at the compact stage-on-stage format as his floor tom tumbled over and almost fell Andy. After the third time accidently, Joe decided in mid-song to grab his cymbal and use it to toss both floor toms onto the stage and throw his drum sticks after them. The roadies had their work cut out for them. Andy got frustrated at the vast crowd's lack of reaction and never once communicated with his audience as he did in the past. He could not command the left side of the room and then the right with a chorus each because only the front and centre would spare him enthusiasm. He tried to give a bit of entertainment but saw the empty spaces on dance floor and saw those spaces being filled around the bars. Andy announced the next song "Fuck that shit" however I reckon the song had an underlying meaning at that time. The gig ended abruptly without a goodbye and without their most crowd pleasing song and encore "Electrohead". I really enjoyed the gig for what it was; Three acts trying their very best to make their audience scream and slam around like maniacs and generally have the best Saturday night.

It is entirely negative of me but it must be said; too many of the audience just stood there at the very back of the floor doing nothing to respect the performers. It seems the intense energy of Aesthetic Perfection; the long-standing talent of Mortiis and the sheer power of Combichrist were not enough to please Nottingham.