It was 7.30 when the doors opened. I was exhausted by my weekly work, but this show deserved my labour. It was a one in a lifetime experience for me and there was no way I was missing it. But before I start telling you about how awesome the gig was, I would like to refer to the organisational part of it. Bro (UK) Promotions, is a small organisational company (well, more like some lads) who put some awesome gigs on in the North-East. They sacrifice lots of time and money to ensure everything is the best and do great work here in Tyne and Wear. It is the same group that organised Aura Noir, Doom and Volture gigs in the Newcastle area. Their support is obvious, without beneficial attitudes or silly demands. They always try for the best and they always put on some pretty awesome and rare gigs, which you would otherwise be unable to see otherwise if you live in the North.

Age of Taurus open with a Sabbathical atmosphere, I didn’t know this band before but I can tell you they were mint. The British Rockers play for about half an hour, a powerful start for the fans, who received the full amount of the energy, the band was producing. Their whole set consisted of four songs, which are included on their demo called ”In the Days of the Taurian Empire”, these were ”Unto the hour of the Dead”, ”Unborn Destroyer”, ”Barren” and the self titled ”The Age of Taurus”. Their performance was amazing, the music was even better and this fact shows some potential skill for their future career.

Swedish Heavy Metalers, Enforcer decorated the stage with banners and candles, providing a more ritualistic atmosphere. No fashion, no posers, just the uncorrupted heavy metal ideology.

They came out at 8.30 and entertained us for 1 hour and 15 minutes, with an extraordinary set of songs, which drove the people nuts from the first note. With their successful release called ”Diamonds”, the Swedish band was a blast. Although they tend to get a bit boring in the end, Enforcer gave a true metal performance that everyone enjoyed. Songs like ”Roll the Dice”, ”Diamonds’’,’ High Roller” and ”Black Angel” turned our minds back to the 80’s. It was a glorious moment for all those who didn’t have the chance to live this mythic era. Even the older people in the venue went absolutely bananas when Enforcer raised the banners of old.

Angel Witch naturally headlined The crowd, moved to the front enthusiastically for the start and people started moshing and headbanging to ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’ and didn’t stop until the end of the show. It was spectacular performance from Angel Witch, who exploded our minds with White Witch, Atlantis, Geburah, Gorgon and Angel of Death. Apart from these songs, the full set contained also Sorcerers, Dr. Phibes, Baphomet, Into the Dark.

The closure of this awesome show gave the people what they needed to release their last drop of energy. When Angel Witch came back on the stage, some familiar notes entered our ears. At last, their self titled song, Angel Witch, which was pleasantly received by the audience, without the chance to catch a breath..

To sum up, The gig was an oasis in a really hard week. It gave us the chance to release all the bad energy and return to our reality rejuvenated. The set lists were exactly as expected, the bands played brilliantly, and most of all Angel Witch, who did not seem to care about how many years have passed or how many wrinkles they have on their face. The wolves may have grown and their hair may have turned white, but their energy remained unchanged, like they were back in 1978.

I wish there were more gigs like this one up here. The local scene goes from bad to worse, metalcore and soft bubble-gum post rock prevail and the big gigs have no other bands rather than Trivium, 36 Crazyfists or Kasabian (ah, for God sake).We hope Bro UK will manage to entertain us with such experiences in the future and I really wish them luck and prosperity in what they do. And they do it right.

Review and photos Dionysios Mantis

http://www.bro-uk.co.uk