After the lifeless set by first on the bill act Shatner I wasn't expecting much from this second on the bill act. However I was pleasantly surprised to discover this four piece local act from Liverpool were quite sparky and anything but lifeless as this half-hour set of seven tracks panned out.With all four looking like they have just come from a building site if their fashion sense was anything to go by Mantis have quite a loyal local following, if the turnout was anything to go by. In fact the turnout was something one would expect of a main act than a supporting role.
They kicked off with the gutsy opener "Reflections" and this rich vein of form continued all the way up and till their fifth track "Failing Down" from when the pace slowed down for a more melodic and tunefully written song and ,for me, their finest work song out of their whole set.
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Then after this Mantis had just enough time to perform two more tracks only this time aided and abetted by lead guitarist Mark Moran who added some vocal harmonies on the sixth track "Smile" and on the seventh and last track "Try Again With Me" he replaced the likeable chubby Anthony Willmore on guitar despite some teasing from their loyal following.
Backed by Jay Kidd on bass guitar and Bob the drummer Mantis remind me of an early Ash during their "Trailer" album period and if this is any indication of future promise then I hope these tracks will be a positive step in the right direction, like what Ash did for themselves onwards from the albums "1977" to "Free All Angels".
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