Review & Photography by Ritchie Birnie for MPM
I was unable to make Mason Hill’s hometown show last year so tonight is my first time seeing them with new singer Tom Ward. I have to be honest I was a bit nervous having followed this band for so many years no matter good or bad it was going to be very different.
I did like the first two singles even though it was a huge departure from their previous and well loved sound so tonight was all about throwing out any preconceptions and enjoying a band in their own back yard.
The intro tape started for DNA and the crowd responded accordingly and when the metronomic monster Craig Mcfetridge strolled out and behind his kit the crowd went apeshit. The rest of the band took the stage and burst into “DNA” and instantly Tom became part of the band. His gritty vocals were a perfect match to this track and life was all good again.
They then seamlessly rocked right into “We Pray” and with the first two tracks you can see the songs were chosen perfectly for the vocalist to dive in and shine.
Now that we have had our taster of comforting, well trodden ground the boys flip into a one, two of new songs with “Twisted” and “Resonate” and these were completely banging. This band were always tight but this all new Fred Durst led, Nu Metal Mason Hill do kick ass. Craig is loving this new brutality, Marc seems to be into a higher gear and to be honest who actually knows what goes through Mr Ward’s head when he is on that stage? If we did know he would probably be incarcerated.
The difficult one to hone in on is James, partly because he is in complete darkness but he is and always has been about playing and he is lost in that journey every time he is on a stage and as if by command the song finishes and he wanders up and down the fretboard before he takes us into “Hold On”.
As I have said this is the old overlayed with the new. The new is fantastic and the old is known but unknown at the same time. We have a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster here. One foot in the now and one in the past and for me it is a bit unsettling as if it should be one or the other, that one is holding the other back and this feeling is reinforced as we once again flick into two more new songs in “Tainted Wings” and “Silence”. Two strong tracks, some great guitar work but a complete contrast to what came before and nowhere was this more prominent when the set is broken up with a jam of sorts.
I suspect I will not be the only person to pick this as the highlight of the evening as it is based around one of Mason Hill’s most beloved songs in “Where I Belong”. I understand the band’s take on not playing this track due to how personal it is but let me throw a counter to that.
Did Deep purple stop playing “Smoke on the Water” when Gillan left? Did Iron Maiden stop doing the song iron Maiden every show as Bruce or Blaze joined? The answer is obviously no and the reason? the songs belong to to the fans just as much as the band. Scott who wrote the lyrics never even said what the song was written about so you would not be stealing anything by playing it.
That song makes every Mason Hill show. I can still remember the first time I heard it, it has stuck with me since that day and it has brought tears to my eyes on many, many occasions. This was the song that filled me with pride for the journey that the band had been on. A story that not many fans really know. It was watching them play bigger and better venues through times but each time I knew that there was one moment that would never change.
The song belongs to the people, to Glasgow who sing it the loudest and to every single show. Wow, that was a rant and not somewhere I thought I would be going but I do feel that the song is that important. Maybe one day it can come back, maybe when it doesn’t feel so personal or maybe when we all need it the most.
After my wonderings the band followed up with a cover of Muse’s “Hysteria” and I won’t linger on that purely as I am no lover of Muse. This is followed up with “Remember” and we then go into the encore which is put together to get the old juices going with “Burn it Down”, “Broken Son” and “Against the Wall”
The band know how to leave a stage and leave an impression. With Tom we have a new Mason Hill, a very different beast. I am sure they will move forward, they will garner new fans, they may lose some along the way…it always happens when you get a new singer. Iron Maiden were my band from 1980 onwards, I loved the switch to Bruce but despised the introduction of Blaze. Swings and roundabouts as they say and who knows where this goes but I will be in that pit front and centre to continue to witness what may come.
