The Plight at the Old Blue Last

The Plight at the Old Blue Last

07 July, 2010
by: Domzig

Punching god in the face

You know what’s ruining metal? People who don’t respect it. Listen, metal isn’t about Wayne’s World, leather pants and guys in PVC trench coats bleating on about how they were abandoned at a playground once. Well it kind of is, but in my mind unless it’s from the mid to late '70s or has some prog leanings, metal songs should really be about a) getting chicks, b) partying or c) punching god or an authority figure in the face. Oh, and while we’re at it, hardcore should only be about being angry – either at people who stabbed you in the back or the State, and that’s it.

With this in mind, why is the DJ at the Old Blue Last warming up for a hardcore gig by playing a mash-up of Electric 6’s ‘Gay Bar’ with Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Killing in the name of’? Maybe I’m a bit precious about this, but what the hell? This does not even compute – why take two good songs and ruin them? This could be a long night.

Luckily, The Plight start up before any permanent damage is done. Inhabiting the slightly more southern-metal end of the hardcore spectrum, they fly straight into a set of breakneck, no messing punk rock filled with guitar licks that seem to be pulled straight from Iron Maiden’s first record, big, shout-along choruses and plenty of sweaty breakdowns. Soon enough, kids are flying everywhere (including a bloke dressed in a Phil Collins T-shirt, weirdly enough).

OK, so the Plight might lack the sheer, brutal anger of their fellow Leeds-based contemporaries like Mob Rules or Rot In Hell, and they may lack the slick style and stripped down sound of bands like the Shitty Limits or Cold Ones, but that doesn’t mean you can write them off. Like Fucked Up, these dudes have perfected a sound that takes the ‘80s metal/LA hardcore hybrid pioneered by the likes of The Bronx and The Murder City Devils and have added a splash of Judas Priest for good measure. They play music that is angry, loud and fun, that doesn’t slip into self parody or idiot mode – and when you boil it down, that's all the ingredients you need for a bloody good punk band.

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Domzig