CONFESSOR
STRAINS BAR, OMAGH
30/3/2007
There's an obvious divide from those who habitually drink here on their Friday night and those that are specifically here to see Omagh's only metal band play and this can be worked out by a general sea of black in one part of the bar. Confessor has gigged about Omagh for many years now and if you look hard about some parts of the town you can still see old posters with their names on it from gigs gone past.
Having last seen the band play in Summer 2005, there was very little I could remember about them so it was like seeing them for the first time again. Their early set, dominated by covers from bands like Judas Priest, Hammerfall and Metallica, were all played well and gained interest from stray ears throughout the bar making them instantly accessible to everybody.
Not being a fan of late 70s/80s metal it wasn't appealing to someone like myself but with the great musicianship and a typical classical metal voice even I could appreciate the skill and talent on show. The crowded performance area at the top of the bar was an obvious sign of the band's status in Omagh and the crowd consisted of everyone you expected to be there. As a break loomed the band closed the first half of the set with the well-known Shepard's Pie song that everyone reacted to with such joy.
When the band came back they played some of their own stuff along with more covers and although musically they were great, they didn't really express much vitality when performing but it could be forgiven with the small area they had to work with.
Overall the night was something that Omagh has lacked for quite a while now but it also backed up why these nights don't happen very often either. Confessor controlled the crowd so easily but the cover after cover element soon wore thin yet without the covers their own material wouldn't have been strong enough to base a whole set on. However the band themselves are doing what they want to do, they're not giving in to modern metal covers or trying to please their youthful crowd, yet win them over in a heartbeat and that, for me, showed a quality performance from a tight and comfortable band. 7/10
With the Download festival approaching, many of the big names venture to Ireland to give their Irish fans a treat. Due to the removal of Download Ireland this year, many metal bands are making their own mini metal-fests and there is none better than the metal coated triple-header in the form of the fantastic Machine Head with the immense Chimaira and Killswitch Engage who will play Belfast's Balmoral Hall on June 8. For me it's the best metal line-up to hit Belfast in quite a few years and it really is unmissable.
On June 10, Dave Mustaine will gather up a few friends and play Dublin's Ambassador under the name of Megadeth before their more than likely Download show which although it may not be the original line up will still be a brilliant performance. As predicted by myself back at the Unholy Alliance tour, Slayer will be coming to Ireland again, this time with Mastodon in support. However it is in Cork on June 30 but if your keen it would be a fantastic gig to go to. One other gig to note is the new punk/hardcore act Gallows who on June 13 will play Belfast's Auntie Annies, however it's bound to get upgraded because someone will get killed in such a small venue.
