To mark the end of Slaves to Gravity’s UK tour, supporting The Butterfly Effect the band were intent on going out with a bang on their last night.

A year after the band were crowned Kerrang’s “Best Newcomer of the Year”, 2009 has been another busy and exciting for the band with writing and recording new material for the second album and a heavy tour schedule on their agenda; not to mention the exciting new addition of Gemma Seddon, following the departure of previous drummer, Jason Thomopoulos.

Supporting Australian alternative rockers, The Butterfly Effect, Slaves to Gravity seized the opportunity to showcase their new material in preparation for the release of their second album due in early 2010. Tonight was all about playing the new tracks rather than playing the old favourites from 2008 debut album “Scatter the Crow”.


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Slaves blasted into the set with the massively catchy “Good Advice” with Gemma instantly making her presence known. This girl was not here to shy away in the background and smashed the hell out of her kit with sheer force right from the first note. Tommy as always was on top form delivering his impressively energetic and passionate performance with Toshi and Mark raising the roof either side of him. It was just unfortunate that the crowd in the Academy were so static, but this could have been to do with the fact that the price of beer was not at its cheapest and people weren’t as loose as they could have been.

Mid set, the band threw in old favourite “Mr Regulator” and Tommy modestly apologised to the older fans for not playing any more of the last album in tonight’s set, saying “I hope you guys don’t mind and we really hope you like the new stuff”.

Tonight’s sneak preview of the forthcoming album showed the band had not lost their hard rock upbeat edge, but had simply built on their ballsy, funky and well crafted style of rock. Other stand out tracks included “Silence Now”, “Dumb” and the closing number “She’s got Big Plans”.

As a massive fan of “Scatter the Crow” it was hard to imagine the second album topping it. But after hearing the new material, it’s safe to say that Slaves definitely haven’t lost their energy and if anything have evolved further, with new drummer Gemma helping to crank things up several notches.

I was lucky enough to grab Gemma and Tommy after the show for a chat and probe them about their plans for next year. 2010 promises to be just as full on with only a small break after this tour before putting the finishing touches to their next album and hitting the UK again to mark its launch. These are the nicest people in rock that I have met in a long time and I had to take my hat off to them for being so down to earth and friendly. I thanked the band for a brilliant night and left them to celebrate the end of the tour with their barrel of Jagermeister. After all their hard work, they certainly deserved it.

With the sun setting on 2009. I’m already excited about what 2010 has in store, and seeing these guys back in Birmingham again. Let’s just hope that by this time next year, Slaves will be packing out the Academy 1. If any band can warm up a crowd and put on a memorable show its Slaves to Gravity. Here’s to an even bigger and better year in 2010.

For more information and updates on the band visit Slaves To Gravity (on tour now) on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos

Interview with Tommy & Jason 2008

Mel Jones