First, though, were local band Ambiguous Henry who are just starting out in the gigging circuit. Given this performance though, they should stay the hell out of the circuit for a while until they get their performance up to scratch. Their set comprised of generally uninspiring music made worse by sloppy performance and awful guitar sound. There wasn’t a lot going for them. Their vocals were questionable, and although they tried to be interesting and include a lot of influences, they just didn’t work.

Things didn’t get much better when Firefly took to the stage either. This band claimed to be a “3 piece Melodic hardcore metal band”, going on to say that their main influences were “Funeral for a Friend, Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu, Inme”! Who’s idea of “melodic hardcore metal” is that? I don’t really know. What “melodic hardcore metal” is, I also have no idea. This band that played an appalling set which really didn’t go anywhere at all. They didn’t have the precision or creativity to make either Hardcore or Metal music (never mind melodic versions of either) and believed that limiting themselves to the most mainstream rock bands in the business today (because let’s be honest, these bands aren’t hardcore, metal or even emo) they will automatically be good. The sound they produced would and did make Inme sound amazing, and, luckily for the crowd, the vocalist’s microphone was turned down so much you couldn’t hear a word he was “screaming”. The fact that the singer used such cringe-worthy terms such as “I wanna see how crazy Norwich’s crowds can get” between songs felt like a justification of their poor showmanship. Why they ever left sunny Berkshire in the hope that someone might like them is beyond me, and it is a disgrace that they were playing at a venue with so much history such as the Ferryboat. Signing off with a piss poor Inme cover which no one asked them to play, they left the stage thinking they were the shit because they were on another planet sharing their god-awful music.

So when Sosumi finally came on stage, it felt like a fucking godsend! “Finally! A decent band!” the masses screamed in unison. Sosumi are a three piece from Lincoln boasting a wide variety of influences and sounds paying homage to some of rock, indie and alternatives best and brightest. They started their set with “Threw The Motions”, which set off the sound limiter for the second time that night. However, for them it would turn out to be a blessing, as those in the audience who were listening were so pleased with the small amount of music that had been played that they got up and went crazy for the band. A fully justified reaction too, as they ripped effortlessly through a bunch of songs that possed elements of Biffy Clyro’s charm and sound most visibly, but they also borrowed from bands you perhaps wouldn’t expect including Will Haven and, indeed, Kill Kenada. The only real issue was that their sound could get a little repetitive: some songs getting the same feel and structure as others, and this small piece of criticism should be taken in consideration for further writing. The biggest surprise, however, came at the end of the set when they announced that this was in fact their first gig, and that it was a pretty poor performance for them. If so, I would love to see a great performance by them…

And so we finally rolled on to Kill Kenada, fatigue leaving them with a strange attitude due to the buzz and stress of being on tour, particularly an aggravatingly small tour. The turnout may have been bad, but this didn’t deter the band, who strutted on stage full of confidence and meaning: they were here to rock no matter what, and they most certainly provided it. They ripped through an annoyingly short set with such precision and tightness that it was the stuff potential legends are made of. A thrilling live experience for all to have as they passionately screamed, strummed, and danced the night away. The fact that they didn’t honour a single song to ‘The Pink Album’ was a little disheartening. Fair enough, only a small portion of the crowd would have heard any songs from that album, so it didn’t really matter what they played providing it wasn’t a load of Inme covers (and they would probably do that pretty well!), but for those who have taken time and money out to see this band, it would have been nice to have at least featured one song we would have recognised, as it would have raised the quality of the experience by obscene amount, and would have given the average fan something to hold onto, cherish and remember: “I saw my favourite song played here.”

What proves Kill Kenada’s humanity, though, is that they can make some arguably bad choices. For one, ‘The Pink Album’ consisted of a lot of old songs, some that don’t quite stand up to their newer songs or singles. Another example would be ‘Choke’, which was one of their first written songs and was their first single; a song that was acceptable at the time but has aged terribly, and especially since they kept the old, aging single recording of the song for the album, it sounded very sub-standard next to most of the others. Further, the band have done very little touring and promotion until now. Granted, they want to become well known for their music, not how they sell it, but they’ve kept themselves so obscure that it feels like a defeatist attitude, considering KK are a band who could easily be selling out venues like the Ferryboat had they made more effort to get themselves known because of just how good their music and live performance is.

But, for the songs they did play, it was captivating to watch and flawless, regardless of what was missed out. And despite faults, Kill Kenada still looked like the future.

Adam Turner-Heffer