aaamusic | On 11, Oct 2010

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Rome, 28th September

When I knew about a gig of Pendulum in Rome I was very happy, I listened to Immersion (their new album) with great enthusiasm and I would have liked to see them live, so that was the right chance and I couldn’t miss it!

I was curious about the Italian audience and actually it was very motley, people of all ages and all looks, from casual to punk, I think drum ‘n’ bass is a cross-genre, it can be listened from different kind of people.

Anyway after a short wait the opening act got hold the stage, warming up people with a bootlicker dj set. They were South Central, from Albany, a bit 2manydjs, a bit almost pop, mixing with mastery Daft Punk and Nirvana, Toxic Avenger and Bloody Beatroots, Chemical Brothers and Prodigy. It was pleasant and people reacted dancing and jumping. The bad note is that their set lasted too long, nearly one hour and half, so Pendulum started at 11,15 pm, when the air inside the venue was quite unbreathable, it was very hot and wet. Moreover the acoustic was not so good, in fact sometimes distinguishing one song from another was hard, but Pendulum stirred up the audience with their powerful sound.

After the intro the show started with Salt in Wounds, and people unleashed hell dancing and moshing, I found myself dancing break-dance following steps made by some guys in front of me, the atmosphere was of uncontrollable energy. Even if the acoustic was not so good I could hear the ipnotic bassline melted with acid synthesizers and rough guitars. Unfortunately the guitar was barely audible in all that sound jam.

Granite, with its sounds that seems to come from space was thrilling and Pendulum decided to pay a tribute to Black Eyed Peas quoting them inside the tune. But tributes went on, in fact the fifth tune was Vodoo People by Prodigy. Here acid synths were accompanied to rock guitars and the audience welcomed it with enthusiasm. The moment of Witchcraft, the second single taken from Immersion, was amazing. We took a breath for thirty seconds, when the soft voice of Rob Swire gave relief to our ears and legs, but a moment after we started a furious dance following  the carrying away rhythm of the song.  Fasten your seatbelts introduced the audience in the house- techno territories, while Midnight Runner was a purest kind of drum’n’ bass,  Pendulum are great because, even if their drums and bass lines can be a bit repetitive, they know how to take the best from genres that are closer to drum ‘n’ bass and melt these elements inside it getting very good tunes.

The Island part I and II performed live looked all the better for them, sounds were more solid and the groove sounded great. Blood Sugar was the end that I expected, it was epic and sound was acid more than ever, was galvanizing because it’s a hymn to drum ‘n’ bass and the audience went crazy in the orgy of sound. But Pendulum could not go away without playing Watercolour, and it was the very end of a great live show, I was enchanted and I thought I had become a break dancer, but come back home I was the same person as before, so maybe it was a magic!

Author: Roberta Capuano

Photos: Simone Cecchetti