After spending a month touring festivals in Europe, Body Count finish off their latest tour in Scotland.
Body Count’s in the house. The relentless crossover hard-core/thrash/metal/punk/rap band fronted by Ice-T reached Scotland to end their month long tour in Glasgow. Just under a month ago, Body Count arrived in Europe to play some top festivals and remind their fans that the music and message they promote are still very relevant. The “Merciless Tour – There will be Blood” pre-empts the release of a new album. The idea of a metal band was formed a very long time ago when the best of friends, although heavily invested in the hip-hop/rap scene dreamt of being in a metal band and that became a reality when Ice T and Ernie C struck a chord. Those early offerings were raw but fast forward nearly 35 years and the band are tighter than even a Scotsman!
The 90’s music vibe of Rage Against the Machine being emitted out of the PA warmed up the crowd for what was to come. First up, German hard core/alt-rock/funk outfit Slope tried their best to turn back the clock to the halcyon days when a funky vibe was introduced into the MTV metal/rock generation. With a new album, Funky Dreams recently released, this gave the band the opportunity to introduce themselves to a wider audience. The funky nu metal had a relatively short life span, and Slope have a job on their hands to champion the genre, but they gave it a good effort. The room was busy as they ran through their set and the band got a good reception. It was a tight stage being set up in front of Body Counts gear so the band might be a whole different animal in a sweaty club.
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Body Count cross genres with ease. There’s something for everyone as the credibility of their music reverberates and gives vindication for listening. Ice T is the real deal, what you see is what you get. The entire band look menacing dressed in black combats, flight jackets with drill cotton shirts with their names on them. As Ernie C comes on stage, he stands out with his bright red jacket and matching baseball cap. There’s a huge roar from the near sold out crowd and they are tightly packed into the concrete and brick venue, a fitting scenario for what was to come. Glasgow might have it’s gritty areas but it’s no L.A. South Central, the band are at ease as they kick off with “Body Count’s in the House” and the mosh pit’s already going insane! Slayer were one of the inspirations for the bands inception and they launch into “Raining Blood/Postmortem” as a tribute to the thrash metal band. There’s 30+ years of a back catalogue to delve into and whilst it’s not a greatest hits tour, the band maintain the intensity by ripping through some of their hardcore favourites. The new album also featured a couple of numbers and “Psychopath” gave Ice T and Little Ice the chance to play out pure theatre akin to an Alice Cooper set. If you didn’t already know, Ice T has always been anti-racist and “No Lives Matter” has been his mission statement.
Another of the bands respected peers are The Exploited. The band dedicated their cover of “Disorder” to Wattie and Co. He gave a shout out to Wattie saying he was in his “home” town, of course, that drew a few groans as Wattie hails from Edinburgh. Riley Gale also got a shout out as Ice T took a moment to celebrate his fallen friends. There was a touching moment when his young 8yr old daughter LeTesha joined him on stage to give the devil horns to the moshers at the barrier. He asked LeTesha what happens if you “Talk Shit,” you “Get Shot” she screamed, and the band launched into the song of the same name. That rolled into “Cop Killer” which got the building bouncing.
Rather than leave the stage, Ice T mused with the crowd and told them he would have a “virtual” encore. The lights dipped but the band did not depart, as the crowd chanted “here we, here we, here we fucking go,” the lights came back up and the final volley of songs started with “Born Dead.” “This is Why We Ride” was the penultimate song and a self-explanatory song of the lifestyle of a generation. Ice T holds court and lets the crowd know that this would be the very last song. No strangers to a cover version, what band could Body Count possibly cover to keep the hard-core fans guessing? Pink Floyd! I’m sure that shocked a few fans in the crowd but it was a stroke of genius. Ice T of course changed the words and Ernie C nailed to famous David Gilmour solo. “Glasgow, you’re just Comfortably Numb.” The prophetic story of his life and the reasons why he does what he does all unfolds as he uses the iconic tune to relay the message.
Ice T brought his family members onto the stage and along with the rest of the band, took a well-deserved bow. “Good night Scotland” ‘wee’ LeTesha shouted, it certainly was!
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