By Andrea Ramirez-Maciolek-Rock At Night Philadelphia Correspondent
Venue: Union Transfer, Philadelphia-April 1, 2016
When I went to see Wolf Alice perform at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, I did not expect to have my mind completely blown away by the opening act. I am almost a bit angry that I have never heard of the band Slaves sooner. I can’t believe I have been missing out since the band released their first album in 2012 called Sugar Coated Bitter Truth. Why have we not heard more about this amazing band here in the US?
For those of you who have never heard of the band Slaves, they are a dynamic punk rock duo from England which consists of members Isaac Holman on drums and Laurie Vincent on guitar and bass. When I first arrived at the venue I was confused as to why the drums were in the front and then I realized why when the show started. The first word out of my mouth was “WOW”. I’ve never seen anything like this before, the drums up in the front as drummer Isaac viciously pounded on the drums while standing, singing and jumping and guitarist/bassist Laurie switched between both instruments and backed on vocals.
Slaves opened the show with the song “99” from their current 2015 album Are You Satisfied and the crowd went crazy. Their sound is undoubtedly old school punk rock. The songs are simple yet very smart, catchy, and in your face. The lyrics have a comical edge to them pretty much matching the humorous personality of the band members. They told jokes and funny stories and kept the crowd laughing the entire night. They kept everyone entertained with their darling British humor. I did not want their performance to end as most opening acts only get a few songs. Each member had enough contagious adrenaline to keep the entire audience lit for a couple of weeks and we did not want the Slave party to end. They closed their set with one of my favorite songs on their latest album called “The Hunter”.
I hope Slaves enjoyed playing their first show ever in Philadelphia as much as we enjoyed listening to them for the first time. If you love old school punk rock you will not be disappointed in Slaves.
Members: Vocals, Drums – Isaac Holman Guitar, Vocals – Laurie Vincent; Home Town: KENT
Set List
99
Suicide
Hey
Consume
Sockets
She Grew Old
Cheer Up London
Beauty Quest
The Hunter
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