It was a game of cat and mouse for the band on Tuesday 29th September when Terror landed on our shores for one night of blistering hardcore. Only problem was this; the venue was a major letdown. When word was out that Terror would be playing at Fad Media instead at House of Rock or Republic Polytechnic, totally felt a ‘bleargh’ feeling inside. For a major band signed to Century Media records, couldn’t they have chosen a bigger venue? Honestly, although having a hardcore band playing in a small space feels more personal and ‘Inyourface’, it doesn’t hurt that much to see your heroes on a bigger stage, especially when fans had to fork out that much to see them live. After all, your target audiences are basically teens with not a lot of disposable income.

Then again, Terror did rock its cock out that night. Favourite tracks ‘Overcome’, ‘Keep Your Mouth Shut’, ‘Betrayal’ just to name a few kept the moshpit churning its own mass of sweat and raw energy. Ahh, the joys of youth. Scott Vogel, the raging vocalist gave an ode to supporting bands playing that night, declaring a community of hardcore for all. Priceless.

>> monstARR!!

Maybe I’m getting old or maybe I just can’t stand fake bravado.

There was plenty of that during the Terror gig down at FAD Media in Bussorah Street. The gig was originally slated to play at the House of Rock, the quintessential Mat Rock haven in sunny Singapore.

When I saw the poster, I was amused and surprised that the folks at House of Rock would agree to such an aggressive joint venture. On the other hand, I wasn’t amused to hear that the venue was changed to FAD Media and the tickets were going for 35 dollars. No offense to FAD Media but 35 bucks is a little too steep for me for such a venue.

I was standing watching Deadscore perform while my mind was doing the calculations on the cost of said gig. I realized that whatever Deadscore was blasting through the speakers, it just went over my head and honestly, bored me to death. Chest thumping, fist in the air, you know…the usual stuff. So I was absolutely amazed when Harakiri came on stage and played a couple of their originals (not bad, I may add) and covers from Nirvana. Harakiri seemed out of place at the gig but I didn’t care. There was no chest thumping or bandana wearing bands to irk me. Good music is still good music and Harakiri had good music.

So I waited for No Turning Back to play, got bored, left for some good old teh tarik at the sarabat stall and manage to get back to watch Subtle Revenge play. Too much talk, too little good music. After much boredom, Terror came on stage and I have to admit, the five-piece Californian band did not disappoint. The crowd went totally bonkers with stage diving all over the place.

The crowd however, was peppered with flannel wearing people who look like they fit better in a fast food joint. I’m digressing of course but after being bombarded with a 30 odd minute set by Terror, I couldn’t be a happier man.

>> ironhead