Tonight was going to be a few firsts for me, including that this was going to be my first time at Ding Dong for a sell-out gig, as well as the first time I had seen Written By Wolves in concert. I took the opportunity to have a catch up with singer Michael Murphy before the show, as I was intrigued why one of our top bands was playing Ding Dong, as they have massively outgrown the venue.
In short, the reason they were there that night was they wanted to support the venue, which has been struggling in recent years. As Mikey said to me, he has a young son and if he wants to play music when he grows up where can he start to learn if places like Ding Dong are no longer available? We covered a lot of different topics in that conversation, and although I had already only heard incredibly positive things about the man, actually speaking to him had a huge impact on me, and I can see why so many view him as one of the most genuine people in the scene.
When I say stage, I mean each member of the band had about three square feet in which to stand. Mind you, if anyone thought that was going to stop the boys from giving their all they would be rather mistaken. They may start slow, as they did tonight with Mike Raven picking out some notes for the beginning of Algorithm with plenty of echo, but he was soon joined by his brothers Nick bass and Kris drums as they really cranked it up, and then of course there is Dity.
I am not sure what there is left to say about a man who gives everything each and every time he plays, with great vocals combined with seamless endless energy as he jumped up and down on the spot like a coiled spring, becoming at one with the sound. Lauren had warmed up the crowd, and they were ripe for Coridian to take to the next level, which they did with ease. Dunes was another highlight, with the band rooted but so into the music, taking everyone with them on the journey of emotional hard driven rock while Dity continued his effort to expend his energy, but failing.
Seed II is one of their more emotional numbers, and there were plenty of arms in the audience waving in time. The guitar bites, while the bass and drums are locked with the vocals over the top.
