Hadouken!
Where: The Sugarmill, Stoke
When: 17th November 2009
“Soft Toy Emergency told us you lot was rowdy but we weren’t expecting this!” shouts frontman James Smith at a mass of neon-faced teens. Tonight Leeds-based grime-punk fivesome Hadouken! take over The Sugarmill in a way that can only be compared to the recent JLS incident in Birmingham.
After unleashing set opener ‘Rebirth’ on the sold-out and surging crowd, the band suddenly leave the stage for ten minutes with the only explanation being “It’s not our fault!”. A silent gig is never a good thing - booing and chants of “Let’s go fucking mental” starts....and continues until Hadouken! reappear and let us know that basically, we broke the barrier.
The previously abusive crowd explodes into a flurry of bouncing, chanting, whistling and all-round craziness when nu-rave anthems ‘Get Smashed Gate Crash’ and ‘Liquid Lives’ are unleashed - it’s a little unnerving to think that only about 10% of the crowd are actually old enough to do all the things this controversial band write about - “Drink, smoke, fuck, fight” - the life of a British teen? Obviously so.
Tonight holds more drama than an episode of Hollyoaks - out leaps Hadouken’s mascot for new track ‘MAD’ - oh yes, it’s Swagger Mouse! The life-sized, grey and slightly creepy-looking mouse circles singer James as he gives the crowd a punchy, confident performance with as much energy and indeed swagger as Keith Flint (The Prodigy), who the band recently supported in Japan.
Confidence isn’t everything, however, and it seems the cheeky frontman doesn’t even know his own set list - after spending a couple of minutes introducing a “brand new track from the new album”, which gets the crowd even more excited, Smith is corrected by none other than the band’s promo girl then quickly launches into fan favourite ‘Declaration of War’. Smooth. And suddenly it feels like fireworks night again - the room explodes with neon green lasers pulsing above the crowd with every beat of Hadouken’s grimey drum.
They’re not going anywhere yet. Cleverly moving away from their nu-rave roots, Hadouken have matured their sound and even stage presence (now leaving the antics up to Swagger Mouse) and are successfully producing more commercial music such as ‘Mic Check’ and forthcoming single ‘Turn The Lights Out’, similar to that of more established bands The Prodigy and Pendulum.
After showcasing “the hardest song we’ve (Hadouken!) ever written”, dupstep-edged ‘Bombshock’ from new album ‘For The Masses’, vocalist James invites whoever threw her bra at him to show him her breasts to get it back (who knows how that ended), and wraps up the night with a multi-coloured laser showing of their best single to date “That Boy That Girl’.
So the Hoxton heroes and indie cindies leave The Sugarmill with flashing lights in their eyes, ringing in their ears and great big grins on their faces. This band can do no wrong.
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