ABADDEN: my first Camden show

“THE PURPLE Turtle experience was a complete success 100 per cent. We loved it.” Dunstable thrash metal quartet Abadden is positively buoyant. Having made its first live performance tonight in the musical hive that is Camden town the band is taking away a lot of positives and generally is very happy with how the show has panned out.

DTA Music is crammed into a Citroën Saxo with all four members of the band. In honesty it’s quite the absurd site. Singer/guitarist Dan Pool must have his ankles somewhere around his neck, shoehorned into the car’s small boot. The remaining members of the band (John Blunt, bass; Billy Robinson, guitars; and James Bell, drums) have it slightly easier but you get the feeling that there’ll be some creaky knees in the morning. We’re parked outside The Purple Turtle, a hybrid pub/gig venue that’s every bit as dingy and soiled as you’d expect from a non-franchised, sponsorship-light venue. An Academy this is not.

Outside there’s a mulling of denim and leather clad gig-goers amongst the obligatory London buses, zealous cyclists and local drunks. It should all be a bit distracting but the band has one thing on its mind: astonishment. “Awesome,” exclaims Robinson when asked how he felt the night went. “Loved it. These new faces roll in with our t-shirts on. It’s really, really awesome.”

“I think we all enjoyed it,” adds Bell.

“Yeah, we got a good reaction out of people,” continues Pool.

Obviously awash with emotion, it’s the type of emotion that only a young band can emit. There’re no jaded and sceptical thoughts on the evening. No ‘I wish things had gone this way’ moments. No ‘I remember when’ regrets. Abadden is ecstatic with how things have gone, not only this evening but over the past two years.

Rewind four hours and we sit upstairs in The Purple Turtle. This particular band room is a rather off-puttingly peculiar shade of red, has six chairs with about enough room for four. Pool is warming his fingers across the strings of a guitar. Bell does the same with a bass, quite the oddity for a drummer.

“I think Abadden took itself too seriously when we started out,” explains Blunt. “We didn’t realise it at the time but we were seen as a bit of a joke band. It’s different now. We have the right musicians and the right attitude.”

Starting out in April 2007, playing a two song set to an oversubscribed, live music hungry Dunstable, Abadden quickly escalated out of the ‘friends only’ environment and began making a name on the local live circuit. The line-up alternated a few times on the way until this current line-up came together last summer. Now the band has started to branch out with shows in the likes of Leicester, Cambridge and Nottingham, and tonight marks a rare and very much anticipated trip to the capital. It’s a tough egg to crack but the band is giving its all.

“This is another stage,” says Robinson. “We want to step up to become a touring band. That’s the next level we want to achieve.” When asked if this is the biggest show the band has played it’s unanimous. Just to be playing in Camden is a privilege and a highlight. Throughout Abadden comes across as humble and willing to put the leg work in. “We’ve just come back from watching Hammefest [a Wales based heavy metal festival],” Robinson continues, “and we’re watching these bands thinking, ‘Yeah, we can do that’.” It has the potential to be an arrogant statement but it doesn’t come across as such. Simply, the band has become confident in its ability. And with each passing show there’s an undeniable improvement.

Tonight’s performance is one of professionalism and talent. The ‘big lights’ mentality the band has given to Camden doesn’t hinder the slightest. Even a last minute bump up the bill (originally scheduled to play second, Abadden performs fourth just under the main support slot held by friends Aghast) is taken in stride. The relatively small number of punters (around 40) doesn’t faze either.

“It’s a Tuesday night and we’ve never played here before,” states Robinson. “39 heads were banging to us. That’s a good feeling.”

“We finished the set and I came back out to watch Aghast after us, and nobody was really about,” chips in Bell. “I noticed during our set a lot of the people were banging their heads. I love that, when we’re playing our songs and people are nodding along. And the sound was great. For the first time I could hear everything in my monitor.”

Blunt remains feet firmly on the ground: “I think we made a couple of little boo-boos but nothing drastic. Nothing that was like, ‘oh, that was a terrible band thing.’ I think the only downfall was that this is an 18+ venue. It would have been awesome to have some mini-moshers here.”

Pool agrees: “I think that’s how you’ll start a scene up again. More 14, 15 and 16 year olds going out to purely go nuts and to see you. Even if they don’t love the band they’ll still go for it.”

“We’d definitely do it all again though,” says Blunt. “I don’t think we’d want to play down here all the time. I know there can be a lot of hype because it’s Camden, but I imagine us just playing on the off chance. It’s nice to play a place every now and again. I hope that we can come back and play again, spread the word a bit more and get an even better reception.”

So where to from here? “Probably McDonalds,” laughs Bell. “I’m starving. No, Koko.” Laughs all around. Koko, a somewhat plush live music venue (formerly the Camden Palace), is about ten feet to our right.

“I think the Barfly.” Blunt returns things to ground level again. “I’d like to play The Purple Turtle a few more times to build up our rep, so to speak, and then I think the Barfly after that. Then, one day, maybe the big money shot: the Underworld.

“It’s almost depressing going from something like this to The Hat Factory in Luton but then I know I’m really going to enjoy that as well. It’s a hometown show. There’ll be a good crowd and not necessarily just our friends anymore. If we get the same reception as got at the Student Union with The Eyes of a Traitor, then fuck yeah, that’s going to be sick. I think that show really made us grow up, to be honest. I think playing the SU to all those people, probably one of our biggest crowds in a long time, and everyone was enjoying it. I think that made us enjoy it more and we upped our game.”

Abadden has certainly upped the game. Undoubtedly the next stage for the band is expeditions to new territories. Leave the comfort zone of the DTA friendly zones (Luton, St Albans, Milton Keynes) and get out into the big wide world, or at least the UK toilet scene. Tonight’s show acts as a good precursor to such a mission. In addition to this, the tail end of May sees Abadden hope to play a ten date tour (at time of press, three dates are still pending) followed shortly by a trip to Nuneaton in a bid to secure a place at the Bloodstock Open Air festival, arguably the UK’s premier heavy metal festival (more metal than Download at least). All very positive steps up the proverbial ladder.

And for Abadden it can’t come soon enough. Robinson closes things out: “We’re ready to go out, have some fun, and enjoy the experience. We’re ready to play!”

Words: Alex Hambleton

Abadden plays a headline show at The Hat Factory in Luton on Friday 8 May 2009.

The band plays an ‘audition’ show for the Bloodstock Open Air festival at The Queens Hall, Nuneaton on Sunday 7 June 2009.

http://www.myspace.com/abadden