PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
High energy metal rockers The Last Band are pumped up and ready for action tonight at The Parish in Huddersfield. Before their set, I had the opportunity to grab an interview with The Last Band singer Coffe Blood.
Chatting with singer Coffe
Here’s an excerpt of some of the question’s I got to ask:
Voice recorder in hand, I find The Last Band (TLB) relaxing out before tonight’s gig. Introducing myself I get a little stuck over the pronunciation of singer Coffe’s name, it’s a nickname he’s gotten and he said doesn’t expect people outside of Sweden to pronounce it correctly but he would be impressed if they did. I give it a go ‘Cof –er’. I discover Coffe started TLB about seven years ago but the current line-up has been together for about three years.
Asking where they get their inspiration from? Coffe jokes ”they steal everything online!” But really that’s not the truth. As a band, they find inspiration from life’s honesty, be it in everyday situations from seeing a cool movie to relationships, and general happenings in the world and their hometown; from which, they draw upon by adding their own perspective to the situation to create their songs.
I ventured further and asked Coffe more his hometown, Hisingen, which is the title of their current album. It would seem despite its reputation Hisingen is a very creative place. Asking who he would like to have dinner with either alive or dead? Coffe replied ”Jesus Christ, as it would be interesting to see him feed the singer and 30 people with a piece of bread and a fish”, to which I interject and suggested there’d be wine too!
We also discussed ‘who the band would like to open for and why’, ‘do they include any cover songs in their set’, ‘who’s the vainest in the band’ and ‘what is their favourite cheese’ …to find out the answers to these questions listen to the audio-video here:
Local Thrashers RipTide, formed in 2017, is the first support act of tonight’s gig. And from what I saw they have got their arsenal together and even had their own nifty stage props. Unfortunately for me I only caught the last two numbers of their set as I was interviewing The Last Band’s frontman Coffe Blood. But what I saw was an excellent and well put together from the young band, who, obviously gave it some drive during their set as you could feel the energy in the last songs I caught. If you like your Thrash old skool I would go check them out https://www.facebook.com/RipTideThrash/
Choose Your Destroyer was the second main support act. They don’t have much written about themselves on their Facebook page and with no other pages, I can’t give you much info on how long they’ve been going for or who is the band. But I can tell you they did give the crowd a great warm-up performance. The singer was made for shape throwing and he certainly did get himself into some good angled shaped poses during their set. CYD reminded me of the nu-metal bands from the 2000s; with lots of deep snarly, guttural ‘Uhhhh’ sounds going down. It’s always good when bands put in the effort to their show and get the crowd going with some banter between their songs. To find out more, go to https://www.facebook.com/cydband/
Are you ready animals? As The Last Band take to the stage!
Sporting their trademark knee-high white striped top socks. If you’re familiar with The Last Band (TLB) you may have noticed their stage wear in their last few videos from their latest album Hisingen ‘They Say’, ‘The Hunt Part 2’ and ‘I got no Friends’. I think it’s a great idea as it must help keep them warm as they are wearing customised long cut off shorts, and cut away tee’s – do they not realise they are in Yorkshire in winter? But I don’t think the five-piece hailing from Sweden give a shit about the weather as they set out to deliver a blistering set full of attitude and vigour.
The screeching intro of opener The Hunt, sets the pace, it’s full on in your face, as is singer Coffe as he entices the crowd forward with the lines ‘c’mon screaming bitches’ ‘are you ready to hunt?’ I’ve got to say for a metal gig on a Friday night the crowd is somewhat lacking, but after a few songs in people start to emerge forward and get rocking out and there’s even some diehard fans that sing-a-long word for word. It may not be a sell out show but the crowd is loud as Coffee tells them they were better than the night’s previous fans, who were a bit shy. Shredding guitars like there’s no tomorrow, the high octane Lights Out is a brutal anthemic number that gets the bodies slamming on the gig floor, which the band appear to be pleased by.
Continuing the noise attack the bouncy So What could be the perfect song, to whip off your tee or other garment and whip it around your head ‘Newport helicopter’ style. If this was a summer festival I’m sure it would be a goer! A rather sweat soaked Coffe, has the same thought and takes off his vest, revealing his tattoo adorned physique as he rips in to Hisingen the self title track off their latest album. There’s no let up on the pace and energy from The Last Band as they approach the remaining songs of their set. The blood is definitely pumping as I got no Friends sends the crowd into frenzy. Giving it their all, from killer guitar solos to the fierce drumming. Axel Karlsson carries on smashing those skins on closing track Muscle & Blood , with the rest of the band providing the powerhouse, they join forces on backing vocals, as they snare you like the animal you are into their rock metal lair.
You can tell by the look on the band’s faces throughout their set, that really enjoyed themselves tonight.
I really hope The Last Band return to the UK soon, they are without a doubt an excellent live band and hopefully next time will bring them larger venues and crowds to go with it.
The Last Band Set List – click here The Last Band – set list
Band Members:
Coffe Blood – main vocals, guitar
Alex Frid – Guitars, back up vocals & FX
Axel Karlsson – drums and backing vocals
Dennis “Pumpkin’’ Andersson – bass and backing vocals
Fredrick Erriksson : Guitars
The Last Band Web|Facebook|Spotify
