Slaves live at The Forum, Tunbridge Wells: Friday, January 31st 2014

We headed down to The Forum, Tunbridge Wells to see what all the fuss is about Slaves. Two characters Laurie Vincent (guitar, vocals) and Isaac Holman (vocals, drums) make up the group. Listening to their album ‘Sugar Coated Bitter Truth’, they sound nothing like two lads from Kent and more like a pair of rough and ready Camdenites.

There was a really big turn out at the gig, but due to a little bit of a late start in true headliner style and a few technical hiccups the crowd had thinned slightly.

The crowd signified their cross-generational appeal, with the likes of parents who would have been around to see the Sex Pistols and Joy Division and their offspring who are getting their first taste of punk/rock music at live music venues such as The Forum.

Once Slaves kicked off their set the energy and atmosphere really cranked up. Opening up with ‘White Knuckle Ride’ which manages to combine a raw punk energy with a raucous riff, surprisingly sleek and controlled for a punk anthem tune.

They rapidly and vigorously whizzed through tracks from their album Sugar Coated Bitter Truth. 15-second wonder song ‘Girl Fight’ was short but definitely a sweet treat as Isaac mentioned the back-story of the lads walking out of Royal Express Kebab in Tunbridge Wells and throwing their kebabs down for the fight! Apt!

Slaves treated the crowd to a new song ‘Hey’, which had a baseline that whipped and transformed the crowd into rapture; that one will be echoing around many-a-muddy field this summer.

Isaac’s ability to keep total control of his drumming whilst churning out some immense lyrics is an unbelievable skill. Musically, Slaves are in sync but besides that there’s a conflict of personalities. Laurie is the unsung glue for the duo, whilst Isaac has more of a ‘lazy genius’ eccentricity about him.It’s like Sherlock and Watson; an odd couple but you can’t have one without the other.

You can also catch Slaves live this April and May on Blood Red Shoes tour.

Slaves live at The Forum, Tunbridge Wells: Friday, January 31st 2014