New York post-hardcore legends Quicksand are celebrating 30 years of their debut album, Slip, this evening by playing it in its entirety. It’s an undeniable masterpiece and every single person squeezed inside the Academy is practically frothing at the mouth as the band walk onstage and plough straight into the magnificent, dexterous rhythms of opening track Fazer. Vocalist/guitarist Walter Schreifels doesn’t stop to address the crowd, preferring to let this magnificent music do the talking, with Head To Wall, Dine Alone and the title track completing one of the strongest opening four-song runs imaginable, flashing by in a blur. Much like their music, Quicksand don’t appear to have aged at all. Walter is still rake-thin with model good looks; former Deftones bassist Sergio Vega still throws himself around like he’s made of Flubber; drummer Alan Cage remains a pummelling human metronome; and the addition of Cave In’s Stephen Brodsky as a second guitarist gives the songs a sprinkle of his manic special sauce. Post-Slip, Quicksand give us a brief greatest hits set, culminating in Thorn In My Side, Landmine Spring and Delusional from Manic Compression. It cements this evening as perfect, post-hardcore nirvana.
STEPHEN HILL