Benefits / Baba Ali / Gone Tomorrow Live At Middlesbrough Empire

An evening in Middlesbrough is not something you should take lightly, especially a Friday evening, its time to don the jacket and pack the wits about you for good measure, We get the bus into town and head on over to a local establishment known as the Pig Iron for a quick refreshment, its a tavern that has shall we say character/characters within, karaoke is staple here and to that end, a swift single pint was downed and the exit made.  Off to a building that is as far as I’m aware always been a music venue of sorts, it started life as a music hall back in 1897 and has apart from the odd abandonment never looked back, history just exudes from every corner.  So as you can imagine, playing live here can be an experience that not many artists will forget, the likes of Gary Numan and John Lydon have graced its stage in its recent years, so as you can imagine this is a place that can potentially be a scary one for young up and coming bands/artists, so on to our first band, Gone Tomorrow are definitely in the young and upcoming category, so did this phase them, well no I’d say, apart from the initial low volume that they started to, this was as one of my friends coined “stadium rock in a shoe box” and yes this was compliment.  They have a rock/indie sound that could be taken as middle of the road, but these lads know how to power their way through a set and grab you by the scruff and give you a bunch of songs that do rise above. 

A few beers and a chat to some local friends and others that have traveled for this gig later, and Baba Ali hit the stage with some excitement from the growing audience I would say too.  But then when you have an artist who’s influences range from Stevie Nicks to Sleaford Mods, then wonderful things might be anticipated, to this end, we were not disappointed at all, the music felt a little promiscuous to say the least, but then Baba’s stage presence did nothing to abate this in any way, in fact it added a dark Kate Bush esque uniqueness to the show, cavorting along with every inch of the music, giving every moment to playing out the songs.  No corner of the sound was left to the imagination, the stage was used as a prop to be utilised to the full.  No moment is left untouched when it comes to the music, it rolls around like a sponge soaking up everything it comes across, a moody blend of funk/punk/rock and everything in-between, it left the audience reeling with so much love for them.

Where do you go after the supports have given you a night worth paying your hard earned money for already, well to the top of the pile and beyond!

Benefits are without doubt and with the addition of the new drum master herself Cat, at the pinnacle of the scene that should be loosely still called punk, but deserves to be of its own time too. The lights dim and the beats start, the hall almost full of people who are most definitely here to witness the birth of a new Benefits, a Benefits who still rage at the state of Britain today, how we stand in the world, how ‘Flag’ hugging nationalists still hang on to the glory (not a word I enjoy using, but you hopefully understand what I mean) days of old, a Britain that rules by nothing more than history, an ‘Empire’ built on the back of slavery and wanton destruction.  This is all screamed and spat at you like it means something, and it so fucking does!, the fierce passion of trying to understand this country/world we live in today cuts through you as a listener like a razor blade to the skin, Kingsley’s place on the stage is not as preacher, its as the mouth of a youth who see the future as still to be fought for.  The electronic crescendo that backs all this up, is nailed home by the pure beating heart that comes from the kit at the back, a drums that are beaten to hell by Cat the latest addition to this noise machine.

This was a kind of homecoming gig for Kingsley especially, and well let’s just say it was like the world just happened right here right now in this room, an “I was there” moment.