Medallist and The Exhibition
Where: The Cooler // When: 01/11/2008
by Jodie Humphries
I couldn’t miss this particular night at The Cooler, not only was it the first night of the Medallist tour, but to top it off, the support act were none other than The Exhibition. For me, I think the only band missing to make it the perfect Bristol line-up, was Left Side Brain. Medallist and The Exhibition are two bands that I have seen numerous times, but I never get bored of seeing them. You can’t get fed up of seeing them, when every time you do, they sound so different. I knew tonight I should be wearing my earplugs, but I just didn’t want to miss a single note of either band.
The Exhibition are a band who hardly needs an introduction, well an introduction from me when I’ve interviewed Gray several times, and when they also headlines my gig night back in June. Saturday happened to be the first time I’d seen them since then, not only was their less hair amongst the band with Gray and Iain having both shaved their heads, but their sound was stronger. Imagine a voice that could melt hearts, heavy beats that vibrate in your ribcage, lyrics so catchy you want to sing along, and riffs that you can’t fault, and instantly you’ve got The Exhibition. The Exhibition have the rock factor where your ears ring for ages after, and also what could be considered the pop factor with the catchiness of the lyrics in their songs. As a band, they have such range, whether it’s the ballad side of things, or the real heavy side of rock. Whatever they’re playing, you have to move to them.
I have to admit to having their EP on my phone, so when my phone rings, I get a burst of ‘The Only One’, which is instantly in my head for the rest of the day once I hear the opening notes, it almost makes me want to not answer my phone just so that I can hear more of the song.
I could sing the praises of The Exhibition all day, but that would make extremely bias, which I shouldn’t be. Instead I’ll just end by saying, go and check this band out live; I can assure you that you won’t be disappointed. This is a band I could listen to all day, it also helps that they are some of the nicest people you could ever imagine to meet in a band.
www.myspace.com/myexhibitionspace
1. Ice melts in your soul.
2. Fear of heights.
3. The only one.
4.The room starts to spin.
5. Heaven help us.
6. All the stars explode in front of us.
7. Sail through my soul.
I’ve reviewed Medallist on several occasions this year, yet I never get sick of seeing them. Like The Exhibition, I can listen to them over and over again; those heavy electro rock beats are so contagious that it’s hard to be immune to them. Listening to Medallist, you just want more and more, they may deliver that when it comes to the music getting heavier and more electro than you could ever imagine, but you want more songs. And I’m pretty sure they would be happy to play for longer than a promoter allows, judging from their faces when they’re on stage, you’ll be hard pressed to find a band who look like they’re enjoying themselves more.
I was lucky enough to get my hand on one of the limited edition CDs that Medallist have made themselves, some of the tracks of which were recorded at The Fleece back in September. I can assure you that Medallist sound as great on CD as they do live, especially played very loud. All I can say is my poor neighbours.
If you haven’t seen Medallist live yet, I ask you why not?
www.myspace.com/medallist
