“So, let’s get a house together,
get a small compact car, go to Ikea and decorate our little
house…
We can drink lattes and watch friends, decorate
… Life is perfect
… Until she goes and does the one thing you can’t take back and that’s
when she goes and fucks your best friend. And all I can do is sing this song
about her. The fucking bitch!”
New, ever so slightly bitter, single ‘The
Ex’, out 29th March, gets a massive reaction from the
Cockpit crowd. Its drama and acrimony whip them up into a
stage-diving, crowd-surfing, frenzy with just a smidge of
microphone robbing to boot.
Their performance makes it easy to see
why they’ve been crowned Best International Newcomer
by Rock Sound and been recognised as one of the years Best
New Bands by Kerrang readers. Gone are the mild mannered
embarrassingly polite boys we met earlier and in their place
are a polished quartet who know exactly what their fans want.
Particularly, if what their fans want, is dating advice:
“I found out something recently… women
dictate who they’re going to dance with by looking
on the dancefloor and seeing if guys can dance, because apparently,
if you can dance, you can fuck.
So, gentlemen…MOVE YOUR HIPS!”
Screaming, swearing and sweating frontman,
Ben, isn’t let down by his band. There are no signs
that the 16 stitch head injury he recently inflicted on drummer
Aaron is causing any problems as he thrashes away at the
back and guitarist Ian D’Sa, complete with a dark Johnny
Bravo quiff, keeps up with his distinctive riff gymnastics
while bassist Jon, the least energetic of the bunch, simply
effuses cool.
Teasing the, predominantly young and angst-ridden,
crowd with an Iggy Pop-esque flash of tummy, Ben introduces
the biggest crowd pleaser of the night as the set comes to
a close:
“Sometimes cosmic things just happen
and something just makes all our stars align. This song kind
of made all our stars align and introduced us to all of you
and it’s called ‘Try Honesty’.”
This is typical of an introduction from
Billy Talent and their sugary philosophical chat serves only
to give the songs more of an edge and the kids lap it up.
If their major label deal with eastwest/Atlantic ever falls
through they certainly have a future writing ‘final
thoughts’ for the Jerry Springer Show.
The crowd surfing that has been bubbling
away all night reaches its climax during ‘Prisoners
of Day’ with one fan beating the bouncers to launch
himself from the stack of speakers into the crowd below while
the band can only look on and shake their heads as they are
out-punked!
With a flash of the birdie Ben introduces
the final song tonight.
“ This is the last song tonight and it’s going out to the Mother
Fucker, George Bush.” With one last yell the Billy Talent journey in Leeds
reaches its final stop.
Set List:
How it Goes
River Below
Link & Sinker
The Ex
Cut the Curtains
Standing in the Rain
Nothin’ to Lose
Shadows
Try Honesty
Prisoners of today
Encore:
Lies
Voices of Violence
Billy Talent - Interview Click Here www.billytalent.com
Words and pictures:
Jude Stone & Jemma Volp-Fletcher
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