By: Sander Van Den Driesche
Peter Pan Speedrock | website | facebook | twitter |
Support: Certain Death | website
Bannermans, Edinburgh | September 4, 2014
Last Thursday September 4th, 2014, Pisschrist Promotions and Bannermans Bar had themselves lined up with another Scottish exclusive, namely the first ever show of the mighty legendary Dutch rockers Peter Pan Speedrock on Scottish grounds. Not only their first ever gig over here, it was also going to be their only Scottish show to date. I’ve seen Peter Pan Speedrock a couple of times before when I still lived back home in the Netherlands, but the last time was a good number of years ago. And based on their great recent release Buckle Up And Shove It!, this could only turn into a great, sweaty night of rock ‘n roll and heavy, high speed riffing! Also on the bill was J.D. Pinkus, another legendary name (of Butthole Surfers, Honky and recently the Melvins fame), but unfortunately he couldn’t make it over on time from the United States.
So, the gig kicked off with the ‘local’ lads (from Kirkcaldy) in Certain Death. I had heard of the name, but never seen them live before. When I confessed this to promoter Ewen Cameron he stared at me in shock asking where I had been over the last couple of years. He then explained that they are so much fun, basically a mix between Andrew W.K. and Suicidal Tendencies. And he couldn’t be more right. From the start this band created a heavy groove, with two separate vocalists rapping, singing and grunting over the heavy, catchy riffs. With songs about skateboarding and a cheeky joking reference to being straight edge, the fun elements were certainly there. My gig buddy Will thought they sounded like Limp Bizkit, but a lot better than Limp Bizkit. Do with that statement whatever you want. I liked them and will definitely see them again when I get a chance.
Then the anticipated headliners Peter Pan Speedrock were up, but not without some technical problems with the microphones. Unfortunately, this took ages to sort and when the band finally took the stage, the problem was still not solved. So, we got a slight embarrassing moment where the band played the first couple of songs with no obvious vocals coming through the mix of loud drums, heavy bass and thick and heavy guitar riffing. Not that the crowd bothered too much about this though. There were definitely lots of people there who knew Peter Pan Speedrock really well, based on the singing along and the recognition of the songs. And that was great to see, the band clearly proving its reputation worth, though slightly more underground over here than the big status these guys have back in the Netherlands and other mainland European countries, such as Germany.
Luckily the vocals got louder and louder towards the end of the long, sweaty set, which really made it for an excellent show. Especially when the band played not one but two separate encores, clearly pleased to see the crowd wanting more. I didn’t grab a setlist, in fact, I’m not even sure there was one, and I was too smashed by the end to actually take note of the songs they played. But those details don’t really matter here, as Peter Pan Speedrock was loud, fast and sweaty. It was a very successful Scottish debut if you ask me, and hopefully they will be back again soon.
Credits:
Photos by Alan Swan Gig Photography. Videos by TheFudlip.
