Review & Photos By Molly Smith

IT WAS LOUD, IT WAS EXCITING AND THE PERFECT WAY TO START

THE NEW YEAR. WHAT A NIGHT ITS BEEN HERE AT THE FORUM,
WHERE WE WITNESSED THE WIDEST MIX OF GENRE PACKED INTO
ONE NIGHT AND THE FIGHT TO TAKE THE NEXT ROUND OF
MUSICAL GLORY!
In the blue corner, Blam! bringing on
RAISED BY RAPTORS (a newly formed melodic
hardcore band) along with THE ALLEY
DEVILS (a band bound to get the audience
jiving), ready to bring their A game. In
the red corner, The Stinger who threw BABY
GOLIATH and STAR ANGLED SPANNER into the
mix, guaranteeing a night bound to rock.
The rules were, no blows below the belt
and half an hour for each band to showcase
their musical fusion.
BABY GOLIATH pushed the night into full
swing with their indie pop sound, full of
heartfelt ballads and heavier numbers. This
Hastings band formed from the writings of
Alan Mitchell in 2014, but no way was this a

one man show. Watching this five piece play

put a smile on my face; genuine happiness
radiated from them whilst they played. In
todays music industry, its rare to find
a band to play for the sake of creating
music but these guys really fit into that
category. They are definitely a band to be
reckoned with and certainly worth going
to all the way to Sussex to hear them play!
Before the gig I had heard a lot of people
talking about THE ALLEY DEVILS, including
fellow performers expressing how great
they sounded during sound check. Their
sound is tight, raunchy and so rich with
rhythm that you beg for more. Rockabilly
needed to make a modern comeback and thats

exactly what was delivered by THE ALLEY DEVILS.

This band has the power to bring double bass back
into the mainstream and my God they should. With
their witty vocals and clean guitar, it was exactly
what the night needed and was a perfect picking
from Blam! Feet were tapping throughout and people
were twisting along to the music which I have never
seen in The Forum before but from a great, quick
paced rock and roll it is to be expected.
The Stinger fought back with a punch from garage
rock band, STAR ANGLED SPANNER. All of them have
performance history with The Forum (lead singer,
Iain Exley last played here in 1997) but this was
their first time together as a band, and its no
surprise that they have helped shape the history
of the venue. I didnt get to experience much of the
90s due to being born and all, but this is what I
expect the music and scene was like just with better
technology. It must have been quite a nostalgia
kick for the older members of the audience but I
was seriously impressed with the performance and
found myself head banging the whole way through.
This was by far the best performance ever by RAISED
BY RAPTORS, they are really developing as a band
and with their performance skills, giving them
a professional edge. Out of the whole event they
had the largest audience participation from the
mosh pits taking place right at the front (making
life of a photographer that much harder), to stage
invasion from the audience. I have never witnessed
a local band with such charisma and mind-blowing
stage presence, the band being close to finishing
their first EP are at a crucial stage in their
career. With such a catchy bass riff in their song
Irruption, youre bound to find yourself humming
along to it, just like their ever growing fan base
were. This band are in this for the long run and
its worth seeing them now so you know what the
new face of music is going to be.

BABY GOLIATH

THE ALLEY DEVILS

STAR ANGLED SPANNER

All four bands packed a punch for this fight which

resulted in a knockout. Heres to round 3, bring it
on Stinger. <>

RAISED BY RAPTORS