Live: Hocico - Electrowerkz, 9th March 2013

HOCICO (+ XMH, SYSTEM:FX)

Electrowerkz, London 

9^th MARCH 2013 

The last time these eyes witness Hocico, they laid waste to a packed Hangar stage at their headline slot at M’era Luna last August.

That was a show in front of thousands of people, all united in a great party – today we’re only talking hundreds, sometimes smaller crowds are much harder to work.

Although, the way a few are bopping around to opening act XMH, there’s clearly a crowd in the mood for it. Taking 30 minutes of simple dancefloor fodder, they bring bouncy beats with hints of trance amongst the energetic array of tracks.

They’ve clearly a small following of their own and they certainly get people in the mood.  Though a lack of standout tracks and some done-to-death samples keep them from being much more, however, an enjoyable start to the evening.

System:FX are much more organised on this, they hit the right spots and hit them harder.  It’s a fully live set up with guitars, keyboards and drums and that adds an extra boost to the tracks.

With gnarling vocals, catchy rhythms and crunching beats, they hammer the point home and demonstrate just why they play such prime slots.  One of the UK’s stand out acts for sure.

There’s a positive atmosphere brewing even before Hocico take to stage, this is a band people are genuinely excited to see. That the first big cheer is given when the onstage techies get the video stream working just shows the head start they’ve got.

High expectations can lead to mass disappointment, packed out venue, great support acts, crowd in a positive mood…yeah, can be a set up to a fall….or… it can only get better.

The Hocico set is almost like a large party, the message on the new album was “live every day like it’s your last” and everyone is dancing like there’s no tomorrow as Erik and Oscar plough through a mix of new tracks and old favourites, tracks like ‘Vile Whispers’ and ‘T.O.S of Reality’ are standout tracks and so add those to an already impressive roster and you can see why Hocico are doing so well 20 years into their career.

Their Latino harsh electro has become a staple many have copied but few can come close to recreating the energetic power of a Hocico live show.  Whilst Oscar is mobile tied up with keys, Erik more than makes up for this by jumping and bouncing around the stage with full-on power and energy for well over an hour. It must keep him very fit!

Of course, part of their live experience is also the accompanying video projections, which on a smaller stage becomes a bigger part of the experience – it’s almost like they’re part of the horror they’re creating.

London has become another ground they’ve laid waste to, as they demonstrate again why they’re one of the “leaders” of the scene.

Posted in: Hocico,Live