Review: Slaves’ Pier Party 

Last night I got to see one of the most memorable gigs of my entire life so far. It was memorable for good reasons and for not so great reasons.

Slaves’ horror themed Pier Party as one of the headliners for 2017’s The Great Escape sounded like one of the best gigs I could of been lucky enough to get tickets to. I imagined playing about in the arcade, flying about on rides, seeing some new bands and seeing one of my faves perform at such a special venue. I was so buzzing!  The weather put a bit of a downer on things because I ended up being soaking wet before I’d even got to the Pier! But I wasn’t going to let the rain ruin my fun.

The support acts

The support acts were playing in Horatios, the teeniest tiniest pub ever, on the Pier so we went along to watch Superfood. I had heard a few songs by Superfood  before but I was blown away by how good they were live! They had so much energy but sounded completely smooth and reassured. I wish they’d played longer! Double Dutch was the standout for me, it was so funky and flawless.

However, after seeing Superfood, we thought we’d have a little walk round the Pier during the change over. So we went on the dodgems and then headed back to Horatios. When we go back, we found out that it was full to capacity! So we queued for about 10 minutes (in the torrential rain) before realising we were never going to get in. Which was slightly disappointing because we’d paid to watch some bands and couldn’t even see half of them!

By this time, it was about 8.30pm and slaves weren’t on for over an hour! We thought about going on some rides, but Pier rides don’t really seem too appealing in the pouring rain. I mean I didn’t fancy getting more of a wet bum than I already had! So we went to the arcade and played on the 2p machines for over an hour. I have always loved the 2p machines (plus I won some little dogs in teacup figures!) so I was happily entertained.

The main event

Finally, it was time for the main event! I was so excited to see Slaves again. We went over to the Haunted Hotel to wait for them, so we could get a decent spot. The front section was barred off, but I didn’t think anything of it. I just thought that it was to keep a chilled zone and more mental zone? Then when more people headed over and the front section got a bit fuller, security stopped letting people through. Which of course annoyed people who wanted to get closer!

Slaves, themselves, put on an absolute blinder of a show, as usual! The energy they have is insane with crashing drums and  choppy guitar riffs. They put on more of a show as a duo than any band I’ve seen! Also, political vibe of Laurie’s mini-speech was a highlight. Hearing everyone cheer when he shouted ‘fuck the Tories’ was a moment I’ll never forgot. As a treat for having to cut the set short, they preformed their infamous cover of Sketpa’s Shutdown which was just insane, I’ve never seen a crowd go as nuts! The stand out for me was definitely Cheer Up London because it just roars through and has a flawless energy.

However…

There was a lot of crowd surging, the barriers were pulled apart and people kept jumping over! The set had to be cut off early because of worries about the Pier. It felt like actual chaos! I can’t believe how poorly organised such an amazing idea was. Why put on a show, with a band like Slaves whose music is rowdy, when you’re that worried about the Pier’s structural integrity? It just seems daft. I imagined it to be super fun and relaxed, with a chance to jump about and get a bit angry, but really I was just shocked out how shit the staff and organisation were. Although Slaves performed insanely, as usual, the chaos that was going on was a bit distracting!

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