Written by:	Baz Anderson
Published:	December 22, 2011
Event:	Lock Up + The Rotted + Dripback: UK Tour 2011 (Website)
Location:	Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Galleries:	Lock Up, The Rotted - Nottingham, England, 21st December 2011 by Baz Anderson (40)

Grindcore "supergroup" Lock Up don't get many opportunities to get together and blast out a few shows, but this week the UK received three early Christmas presents in the form of a three-date tour.




Perhaps not surprisingly, but nevertheless a little disappointingly, numbers were not high for the show. Still, this provided a rare chance for the show-goers to meet and talk with all the band members as the laid back occasion felt almost like a great meeting, even producer/guitarist Andy Sneap turned up to meet his friends in the band and watch the show.



A new UK band Dripback opened the show to a reserved handful of people standing half way down the venue daring not to venture closer to the stage. Despite opening the show to virtually no one, these guys put on an enjoyable show blending punk aspects with death metal, much like the following band. These guys definitely knew what they were doing and will no doubt get their due attention when they release a debut album.



A second album under the name of The Rotted further solidifies this band's change in direction, but this didn't stop them pulling a couple of old ones for the appreciative few in the audience. The sound in the venue didn't help any band this evening, but especially The Rotted and the headliners didn't seem to have a too clear of a sound. Some guitar feedback problems also kept the band from steamrolling a smooth performance, but these things aside, the band delivered a somewhat laid-back but still violently enjoyable set.



Setlist: The Howling / Rex Oblivione / Surrounded By Skulls / Non Serviam / Just Ad Nauseam / Only Tools & Corpses / Stab Me 'Til I Cum / Entering Arena Of The Unwell / Drink Myself To Death / Apathy In The UK / Motörbastärds / Nothin' But A Nosebleed



Headliners Lock Up casually walk on stage and proceed to pollute Nottingham with the best part of an hour of rapid-fire grindcore. Under doctor's orders the drumming deity himself Nick Barker should not have been there, after apparently being in hospital two days previous with pneumonia. How this guy, visibly fatigued after each song, managed to pull himself together to perform not only a set, but a set of this drumming nature is beyond comprehension. The other guys of Lock Up seemed to be enjoying themselves on stage and enjoying each others company, but most importantly they were enjoying the musical chaos they were creating.



Visiting all three albums plus a couple of Terrorizer songs in honour of the band's previous guitarist Jesse Pintado, Lock Up finally had the audience at the front of the venue and warmed up. Still an extremely small audience for the talent on offer tonight, but shows like this where it can almost feel like a private performance do not come around very often, when they do though, you're almost certainly in for a memorable night. The sound in the venue still wasn't clear, and a headlining set of 50 minutes is on the short side, but considering all things important Lock Up delivered a concise and devastating grindcore show almost for fun.



Setlist: Pleasures Pave Sewers / Brethren Of The Pentagram / Accelerated Mutilation / Slaughterous Ways / Violent Reprisal / Detestation / Submission / Rage Incarnate Reborn / Feeding On The Opiate / The Embodiment Of Paradox And Chaos / Castrate The Wreckage / Necropolis Transparent / The Jesus Virus / Storm Of Stress-Fear Of Napalm (Terrorizer) / Vomiting Evil / Afterlife In Purgatory / Cascade Leviathan