Joy

>MIKA BOMB
HENRY FIAT'S OPEN SORE + ULCER
LONDON, METRO - 15.05.04

With a new album finally on the way, a European tour on the horizon and yet another line up change, this gig, supporting Portugese punkers The Parkinsons, was one of the most hotly anticipated Mika Bomb gigs since their return to the live circuit last year.

But first we have the Ulcer, three blokes dressed in blood splattered white shirts, ties and jeans, like Busted after a run in with So Solid Crew, with a bequiffed and bespectacled guitarist bearing more than a passing resemblance to Mark LeMarr. The music is as simple as it gets - three chords, shouty vocals and a bit of attitude. This kind of band are ten a

penny, but Ulcer get results, there's not a poor song in the bunch, even if you'd be hard pressed to distinguish one track from its predecessor.

By the time they exit the stage, The Metro is beginning to fill a little, the clientele mostly around 7 foot tall and

sporting gravity defying hair styles, studded leather and faces full of metal. The perfect audience for Henry Fiat's Open Sore , who clamber up into the spotlights in gaffer taped gimp masks, but then surprise me by not assaulting our sense with a churning barrage of bass heavy noise in the style of the similarly obscured features of Slipknot or The Locust, but giving us pretty much more of what Henry Fiat's Open Sore had offered, but with added testosterone. Songs such as

'I Am Great' and 'Say No To Women' are unlikely to earn them too many friends, but the haircuts in the Metro tonight seem to be enjoying themselves, and the rest of us can smile at the slightly silly visual impact of the show, as the singer jumps about

and gesticulates wildly with half of the inner leg of his trousers ripped of & his pants showing through the hole. It's all rather ridiculous, which is a marked improvement on what I was expecting when I first caught sight of them.

Then, finally, Mika Bomb take to the stage, or more precisely guitarist Ann takes to the stage, tunes up her instrument and then ponders where the hell the rest of the

band have got to. Eventually they all arrive, only to find that not only is new bassist Wataru's instrument playing up, but so is fellow newbie Mel's guitar. A huddle of serious looking men in t-shirts huddle around the stricken instruments with concerned expressions on their faces as they twiddle knobs and waggle wires, before finally sorting out the problem.

Crisis averted, the band launch into a slightly ragged 'Super Honda', but are soon into their familiar swaggering stride - Mika bouncing around

the stage like a superball in a miniskirt, Wataru egging the crowd on at every opportunity and Mel thrashing her hair at the side of the stage - it's incredible how the new members always manage to fit in so instantly and seamlessly. Meanwhile

Ergi pounds away in the shadows at the back of the stage while Ann dismisses a couple of hecklers with practiced ease.

With quarter of an hour of their set wasted, we get the edited version of Mika Bomb's set tonight, with favourites

such as 'Boomeranka' and 'Hey Man' conspicuous by their absence, and there is an impression that the tight time frame, combined with their confessed drunkeness is having an effect on the other songs too - 'Osaka' lacks its usual

punch, and there's a frenetic, impatient quality throughout. Fortunately, the songs are so good that they could be playing them left handed on broken guitars and they'd still sound great, and their impeccable showmanship helps to bring them through a potentially difficult gig.

Not the best performance I've seen them give, but the next few months should be extremely interesting.

Review & Photos by Paul Madden

For More photos of Mika Bomb & HFOS from tonight's gig, click here

For information about Mika Bomb, visit Joy's Mika Bomb page, or their official site at www.mikabomb.com

Henry Fiat's Open Sore can be found at http://members01.chello.se/fiatcong

And tonight's headliners The Parkinsons, who I sadly missed due to too much chatting on my behalf and an unwillingness to be mashed into a pulp in the moshpit can be found at http://adamant.gfrs.co.uk/ parkinsons/main.html