Jabez Cleggs, 16/05/07

Located in the heart of the University area of Manchester, Jabez Clegg is an intimate club venue with a brooding and satanic atmosphere. With its dark interior, exposed brick arches and a beer stained wooden floor, this foreboding setting is the perfect backdrop for Orange Goblin to showcase their latest offering ‘Healing from Fire’.

The atmosphere becomes charged with expectation as the band members assemble on the dark stage. Chris Turner nonchalantly settles behind the drum kit and makes some adjustments. Joe Hoare, who was selling t-shirts at the back only moments earlier, now spends some time priming his Gibson SG and adjusting the levels on his Marshall stack.

Within moments the blue touch paper is lit and Orange Goblin launch into their set. From the very start the gloves are off as Ben Ward whips the crowd into an immediate frenzy. With the safety catch stuck in the ‘off’ position, the front echelons of the devoted crowd literally go wild as a string of classics from ‘Frequencies from Planet 10′, ‘Time Traveling Blues’ and ‘Thieving from The House of God’ follow. The explosive start continues unabated, and the musical equivalent of a blitzkrieg is delivered to the people; much beer spitting, whiskey drinking and expletive dialogue punctuate the proceedings!

But on closer examination there is much more at work here. The songs channel the bands raw energy and clever guitar riffs in a very melodic and “sabbathesque” kind of way. Joe Hoare’s sound and masterful chord work are a hallmark of the band. Equally, Ben Wards vocals compliment nicely and there is melody at the heart of his powerful delivery. With solid performances by Chris Turner on drums and Martyn Millard on bass, it all fits together very nicely indeed!

Orange Goblin’s roots can be traced back to 1996 as “Our Haunted Kingdom” in the vibrant and prolific underground UK doom-rock scene. The band take you right back to the heart of things, the way things were in the beginning, to a place where the spark first ignited. Although eleven years into their career, and with a string of ground breaking albums to their credit, Orange Goblin remain free from pretense. Making no concession to squeaky clean presentation, this is a band stripped of all non-essential items! Orange Goblin exists to do one job and one job alone, that is, to kick ass, hard! To coin a phrase by Ted Nugent, these guys could “blow the balls off a charging Rhino at sixty paces”!

In short, this was a ‘take no prisoners’ performance by Orange Goblin, and ran at full throttle from beginning to end. Perhaps the performance was bigger than the small venue was able to contain, and one was left punch drunk from the intensity of the musical onslaught! But if rock really is about dispensing with conformity, about letting your hair down, and about taking a walk on the wilder side of life, then Orange Goblin is a true ambassador to the cause.

SB