Live Review: Pendulum, Scarlxrd and Shockone | Utilita Arena, Cardiff | 26/03/2024
As Pendulum embark on their UK tour that feels more like a celebration from a band realising their own worth, fans gather to be blown away by the band’s impressive audio and visual soundscape.
SHOCKONE
An opening set for Pendulum is no easy feat, especially given how diverse and multi-faceted they are in the way they tread genres. For the vast majority of fans present for SHOCKONE’s opening DJ set there is a positive response on the whole. The drum n bass/trap/house heavy set resonates with the growing crowd made up of a brilliant and diverse mix of fans. Firing through a set consisting of original music and covers of the likes of Sub Focus, Ray Volpe, Aeon:Mode, The Prodigy and Chase and Status (with a sample of Baddadan for good measure), SHOCKONE is able to hold the growing crowd’s attention. Samples within the dance/EDM/DNB stylings give some variation to the performance but whilst the 40 minute set may be enough to keep the core centre-front of the crowd poised and warmed up, the outer reaches of the arena suffers a more stagnant response partially due to a significant lack of bone-shattering bass alongside its somewhat slightly repetitive nature in an environment such as this.
Photo Credit: James Gibbons
Scarlxrd
Only a 10 minute reprieve before the next set is lined up and ready to go, and so enters Scarlxrd, hyped and energised to spinkick his way across the stage for 40 minutes. With DJ duties not lying with the frontman, he is able to focus on gearing up the crowd and delivering more of a live performance, and boy does Scarlxrd come out of the gates swinging. Melding elements of rap, metal, trap and the usual club mix/DnB tropes, Scarlxrd commands a considerably growing crowd whilst inciting a polarising response ranging from opening mosh pits and headbang revellers to a somewhat stunned/stilled response from the once raving DnB’ers.
Industrial influences feed in to some of the tracks too and it is clear to see why there is such crossover appeal. Scarlxrd handles frontman duties as if he’s working with a live band behind him, and whilst at first this is a somewhat jarring experience in terms of viewing, he has certainly captured the niche whereby he straddles between a metal gig and a club type set. It’s clever, bold and no wonder it entices a big reaction. Highlights include the likes of ‘Heart Attack’ and ‘LIVING LEGEND.’ which both lean into rap/trap metal styling but provoke some of the biggest reactions of the night. The only downside is that despite the strong effort, there does feel like there is something lacking in terms of live performance factors. Whilst Scarlxrd is a phenomenal frontman, backing vocals are delivered in the mix and this takes away from its overall authenticity. Still, it’s perfect for an evening such as this.
Photo Credit: James Gibbons
Pendulum
Pendulum take to the stage with a blinding array of lights and screens. Opening with their classic and infamously non-studio recorded song ‘Napalm’, the extended intro into this set staple receives a blistering response from the crowd. With no time to waste, they move swiftly on to ‘Crush’ followed by ‘Propane Nightmares’. Clearly favourites, and the crowd are obviously happily reminded of a band, that whilst absent for some time, hold a prominent and unique place in both the metal and DnB communities. A set highlight includes the Pendulum mix of ‘Blood Sugar/Baddadan/Voodoo People’ invoking a series of responses to varying degrees of hype. The visual accompaniment and general aesthetic of the set play a huge part in supporting this and of course when the bridge section sample of ‘Baddadan’ joins the mix before kicking back into the final meld of ‘Blood Sugar’ and ‘Voodoo People’, there is a clear payoff.
The bounce of ‘Come Alive’ rocks the arena floor and newer songs from the band’s latest EP Anima feature prominently in the set. ‘Colourfast’ fits right in as if its been a staple for years whilst ‘Mercy Killing’ brings back Scarlxrd to add his part of the song. The biggest reaction to newer music is held for ‘Halo’, and whilst there feels like a mild disappointment in the air that local figure Matt Tuck isn’t brought out for his feature, the song speaks volumes to the metal portion of the crowd. ‘The Island (Pt 1)’ provides another highlight to rapturous applause, a set staple that turns this Utilita Arena into a massive party with harmonious chanting to the main synth hooks. For a predominantly instrumental song, there sure is some of the most noise from the crowd. This leads effortlessly into ‘Silent Spinner’, a slow-builder with a massive chorus and outro.
Just when it feels like the crowd might not have anything left to give Pendulum launch into a four song run that captivates, invigorates and energises to another level. Out come the big hitters with ‘Witchcraft’ followed by ‘Self vs Self’, ‘Tarantula’ and then ‘Watercolour’ to close out the standard set. It becomes clear during the span of these 4 songs just how established, credible and popular Pendulum are and especially with a range of music that is as eclectic as it is unique and vast. There is no genre off limits whilst combining their influences and adding their precision-level melody to everything they do.
The encore follows with ‘The Tempest’ and the closing section serves as the perfect outro with infectious melody and a guitar solo to boot. Rob Swire’s vocal delivery across the whole night is soaring whilst the band fill the room with a wall of sound that perfectly blends instrumentation from the mix with their live performance. The lighting rig and background screens provide a sensory overload in the best way and it feels as though Pendulum’s monstrous soundscapes were built for arenas. It’s no surprise that this tour see’s them packing out some of the biggest rooms in the nation, and rightly so.
Photo Credit: James Gibbs
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