Review: Ssssh – While She Sleeps


While She Sleeps: Live in Brighton

While She Sleeps: Live in Brighton

The While She Sleeps videos on this page contain flashing lights and Rock n Roll language!

There’s no doubt that While She Sleeps or WSS is a group of musicians who wish they were in the hot moshing crowd watching their own set! They did spend some time in it with us anyway! Very brave…

Within 30 seconds of the band coming on stage piling into us with Brainwashed, The Haunt in Brighton just erupted into one huge mosh pit. It was hot. It was loud. It was While She Sleeps! I had no idea what was about to happen. I have been to many gigs but this was very different to anything I had been part of before! After 40 seconds….. I had to move, my camera got hit, I got hit as bodies launched into a massed riot of a music fueled frenzy!

While She Sleeps - Brighton

While She Sleeps – Brighton

Its been a while since While She Sleeps have headlined their own shows so the excitement of the crowd was understandable! They made us wait…. and wait…. Once WSS finally hit the stage and kick in to their first song the excitement is completely justified and capably demonstrated by the band and the crowd.

This Is The Six and Seven Hills is delivered and it gets as unbelievably insane reaction as almost everyone in The Haunt attempts to launch themselves forward and crowd surf towards Loz Taylor.

These guys performing live hit an intensity that few bands could probably match, and rise to heights of performance and noise levels I have not seen before. They are completely unpredictable but they remain incredibly tight throughout, firing at us on all cylinders!

While She Sleeps - live at The Haunt, Brighton.

While She Sleeps – live at The Haunt, Brighton.

WSS ‘Brainwashed’ album was put on hold for over a year due to problems and injury with Taylor ‘s vocal chords. I think he had surgery on them. And no respite for those chords – they sure took a heck of a battering that night. Also Loz reminded us to support local music, live music and local venues – well done! That’s a belief I have held for a long time. Lawrence Taylor has a presence of his own and controls a mass of hair and runs that stage like a true metal front man!

While She Sleeps - live at The Haunt, Brighton.

While She Sleeps – live at The Haunt, Brighton.

The set list:

Brainwashed
This Is the Six
Death Toll
Trophies of Violence
Our Courage, Our Cancer
New World Torture
Seven Hills
Crows
We Are Alive At Night
Our Legacy
Four Walls

Watch Four Walls and see Loz launch himself from 20 feet into the crowd!

Each song WSS delivered was met with screams and roars. The band are incredibly tight and the sound guys did a great job as I can offer no complaints regarding sound quality. You could hear everything, and hear it loud!

Circle pits, a wall of death, stage-diving etc. you name it, it happened here at The Haunt. Some of the crowd did pull of some just plain dangerous stage dives. One guy dived off the stage, everyone parted – thud…. “are you ok?” came the voice from the stage, an arm raised up through the crowd with a thumbs up – and we were back into the melee. Check out some of the pictures on the WSS twitter feed which show some of the injuries sustained that night!

The walls are running damp with the heat generated and the sweaty heaving crowd, not to mention the liquids hurled into the crowd from the stage, although the Jaeger bombs were consumed on stage and not shared. The crowd, battered and bruised are clearly exhausted but satisfied. The band leave the stage as conquering heroes under the furled WSS flag. The shouts for the band and calls for “one more song” were sadly not taken up. That was it, show over!

While She Sleeps - live and the crowd!

While She Sleeps – live and the crowd!

A friendly bunch of guys who also sat at their Merch desk and signed CD’s and albums. They had a good range of items and all well priced. They invited everyone to a party after the show, not sure how that went or indeed if anyone had any energy left. Leaving The Haunt, outside people were standing around – some nursing a wrist injury, a blackening eye, but there was a sense of “we made it out alive”. Good job WSS!

The Venue: The Haunt, Brighton
I like this venue and it can create a great atmosphere. A fairly intimate venue so you can get up as close as you want, space allowing. The sound was actually pretty good for WSS. The lighting in the Haunt on the stage can be pretty dark, it was almost impossible to see the support acts and WSS at times were lost in the low lights and smoke!
While She Sleeps

While She Sleeps

And you can witness the first 40 seconds of the gig. I got knocked and my camera went for a tumble and switched off!

All words, images and video – copyright Ian Bourn/Mediaworks – please do not copy without permission.