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28 August 2002, The Garage, London, UK
4/5
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PRONG have every right to be very angry about tonight's gig - it must be extremely frustrating to travel halfway round the world, only to have vital equipment fail so spectacularly (Indeed - they've since split up! Reviews Ed.). You simply have to admire their spirited tenacity and the remarkable patience of the crowd. But to be honest, guitarist Tommy Victor could have armpit-farted his way through Marillion's greatest hits and this lot would probably still have cheered and stage-dived all the way through.
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Although the technical failures left the band first without Paul Raven's characteristically powerful bass rhythms and then Tommy Victor's lead guitar, the overall sound was bowel-churningly solid. Slash open the belly of this particular beast and you'll be drenched in bile and blood the colour of the unholiest of nightmares.
Newies like 'Controller' and 'Face Value' clicked neatly into place next to expected favourites like 'Whose Fist Is It Anyway?' and 'Beg To Differ', whilst 'Unconditional' must surely boast one of the meanest, crunchiest riffs that Metallica never wrote.
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PRONG: "now sadly departed"
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By this time, however, the annoyance was truly beginning to get the better of Victor, leading him to throw his muted guitar to one side before cutting short the set and thanking the crowd profusely. Prong needn't have worried, though; when you have a collection of songs that inspires so much shameless air guitaring as this, you can't really lose. Damn near awesome.
Essi Berelian.
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4/5
FOR THE first 10 minutes of Mudshark's set, it's difficult not to try and work out who they sound like. The Scottish four-piece give off that tip-of-your-tongue feeling, and until you've sussed out that the closest you'll get is a nod to Soundgarden, a hint of Korn in the riffs and some Wool-style vocals, then you probably won't notice how good they are in their own right. And they are good - of only they had subtitles so you could understand what the singer was on about between tunes.
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Tommy seen modelling the "Crap Andy Cairns" look
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Skyscraper seem to have been plodding around the circuit forever, and by rights should be way more interesting than this. Sure, they've got the odd toe-tapper and 'Never Again' is a minor classic, but there's also an element of bad 80's thrash that's about as welcome as the local police at your birthday party.
Prong have also been doing the rounds for longer than a geriatric postman, and their fortunes seem to fluctuate with the wind. One minute they're considered influential to the point of genius, the next they're being labelled plagiarists. And while the band are undoubtedly nearer the former, it does seem a touch unfair that they're back to playing The Garage - a venue several times smaller than the one they played last time they were in London.
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It does, however, make for a healthy crowd, and as frontman Tommy Victor and Co plunge into the double whammy of 'Controller' and a techno'd-up version of 'Whose Fist Is It Anyway', the place goes suitably mental. Of course, there are also some very dodgy moments that many other bands wouldn't get away with: most of the gear seems to pack up at various points, yet the sound doesn't seem to suffer, making you wonder how just much of this is sampled (c'mon, there's a banging bass sound from an instrument that's not even plugged in!). And unless Victor has become totally deranged, there's a serious dose of irony in all that "Hey, it's great to be back in London!" rubbish.
But despite the doubts, Prong get away with it. Sampled or not, they sound magnificent, and there is a true feeling of chaos as mike stands regularly hit the floor and stage-divers get kicked for their troubles. Rarely touching on the new album, "Rude Awakening', they finish with a truly awesome 'Beg To Differ'.
Prong? Forking great.
MÖRAT
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