The musical juggernaut rolled on with Balamir cutting a cool but not histrionic guitar figure at the front, backed with such precision and skill by Redhead and Durose. Amplifier roared onwards with their acerbic and scintillating protest song, taking the crowd with them into the feedback chaos intro of Motorhead. However, after Hymn of the Aten Amplifier marched towards a triumphant conclusion by really turning on the afterburners with three adrenalin filled songs from their very first album.ĭuring the blitzkrieg power of anti-war / anti-corporation song Panzer the crowd ride along with Balamir and the band chanting along with the band:Īmplifier were taking no prisoners now and the crowd joyously joined the musical vanguard as Brobin pounded away so hard it was difficult to understand how the drums remained intact. The strange staccato rhythms and ambiguous lyrics of Open Up from Mystoria was inserted into the Insider era songs and shows that even in a high energy rock gig Balamir can slide in a beguiling and intriguing song without losing the tempo or allegiance of the crowd. “Am I alone in this darkness we call redemption It is interesting that even in that context he is able to insert lyrics such as:
#AMPLIFIER SONG MEANING FREE#
Sel Balamir delved back to Insider from 2006 with a trio of songs including O Fortuna and mystified the audience with his introductory questions of “Who believes in fate? … Who believes in Free Will?” and after some confused answers gave Bristol “Zero” for Metaphysics! He is clearly a man who thinks deeply and expresses that in his music at times, but he is also grounded in not taking himself too seriously and understands that basically he is playing rock and roll to a sweaty room of punters. Any doubters or stragglers in the audience were captivated as Matt Brobin’s incendiary drums exploded and Alex Redhead thunderous bass roared, across which Balamir and Durose could joyfully spray luminous psychedelic guitar sounds. The Bristol crowd became increasingly enthusiastic as they drew on the energy and excellence of this tight live unit, and excitement levels reached a new high as the distinctive opening riffs of one of the most outstanding new tracks, Black Rainbow arced across the venue. The Meaning of If and OMG continued showing the quality and diversity of Mystoria, and also Balamir’s ability to fuse dark themes with accessible rock, such as in OMG: “Dance toe to toe with the devil and I’m gonna do you proud.”īalamir’s impassioned vocals for this song for the underdog left him stating afterwards that he would need a new voice box. The next section of the gig showcased the excellent Mystoria album, starting with the crunching riffs of Named After Rocky punctuated by stratospheric guitar aptly following the line: Whilst Amplifier’s music can be intense it is clear that Balamir is a man of charm and humour who soon built a good rapport with the crowd. Balamir greeted the gig and said they were glad to be playing at the ‘Sex Change’. This was a real statement of intent from the band as they swept the audience along with them in a wall of sound. “A bullet to trigger my imagination, in concentration, or toxification, a mountain of juggernaut.” The first surprise of the evening was that instead of seguing into the excellent Black Rainbow from Mystoria, without missing a beat they went back 12 years to the angular power of The Consultancy from their first self-titled album, singing:
The audience were going to be taken on a Magic Carpet ride that night as Balamir and Steve Durose illuminated the darkened club with incandescent guitar lines. This was a night in which the band produced an impeccable and energetic performance which ignited the audience with their musical chemistry and imagination – Amplifier were indeed a thing of power and beauty.Īmplifier spectacularly opened with the psychedelic instrumental Magic Carpet from their excellent recent exuberant album Mystoria. This thought was magnified vividly during this gig when Balamir stated to the crowd that sometimes “From shit beautiful things grow”. The Exchange, BristolĬharismatic and enigmatic Amplifier front man, Sel Balamir, amusingly described in a pre-gig interview (which you can read HERE) that his personal creative process was sometimes akin to taking a “psychic shit”, in expurgating his feelings and expressing his art.