Kerrang/Relentless Tour, All Time Low, the Blackout, Young Guns, My Passion, January 31st
Kerrang/Relentless Tour, All Time Low (pictured), the Blackout, Young Guns, My Passion, January 31st
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Wednesday, 10, Feb 2010 05:10
By Benjamin Brady.
There's an air of excitement in the O2 Arena tonight. The kids have been queuing around the building since much earlier that day and four of the hottest bands in the UK are getting ready to provide a long evening's entertainment. It isn't long before My Passion take to the stage and the crowd is going wild.
Overall the performance is good, setting the tone for the evening with heavy guitar riffs and jumping around like a band of Zebedees. As newcomers to the scene the response from the crowd is strong and although sound quality isn't the greatest it's early, and the atmosphere is already high.
Young Guns are next to take up the stage, and like the band before them, are relatively new to the rock scene. Compared to their predecessors it takes a little while to warm up, opening with their fantastic single Winter Kiss. The guitars immediately take advantage of the stage to show their enthusiasm but vocals seem a little weak. As the set progresses however, the attention of the crowd acts like a pick-me-up, and the band really start to turn up the noise, stirring up a reaction and getting everybody ready for the two clear headliners of the evening.
After what feels like a fast change over, the audience erupt and clearly there is a lot of love in the room for The Blackout. Without a pause for thought the band are screaming their way through well known tracks from both albums, with brothers Sean and Gavin Smith not failing to impress with their energetic antics, climbing the light riggings and generally creating cause for concern with the security staff (not to mention Sean's revelation that he's scared of zombies). From album to album the band are clearly talented, however there is little variation in their call and response style, on the other hand this translates perfectly to the stage; every note is played with energy and is a distinctly live version of the recorded equivalent.
Unlike the previous bands of the evening, The Blackout aren't afraid to take a few minutes respite here and there, often stopping to chat to the crowd while fine tuning adjustments are made, and with a love it or hate it sense of humour the banter helps to make the show. This isn't just about posing on stage and getting paid, these boys are there because they love doing what they do, which is refreshing in a scene that often appears to be more about the latest haircut than the best sound. Something of a staple is the comments regarding the crowds chanting - in Leeds you often hear 'Yorkshire' but the broad accent makes this sound more like 'You're s**t', which is often well received in jest. With the crowd suitably warmed up and singing along wherever possible, it isn't long before the obligatory shout out and the announcement of the night's headliners, All Time Low.
Some would argue that these headline acts are the wrong way around but it doesn't take long to realise that the American headliners are here to set a precedent. Latest album Nothing Personal is full of pop punk anthems that are perfect to get an audience bouncing, with tonight's opening track Lost In Stereo proving the point; but it's the varied back catalogue that give this act a little more variation and the ability to hold the crowd, one of the evenings high points being a heartfelt acoustic rendition of Remembering Sunday. Certainly the least aggressive band on the tour, All Time Low enjoyed the biggest reception of the night. Playing with style and oozing stage presence, it was unfortunate that the set list seemed short, with only 11 tracks (two of these were an encore) from three different albums making the cut, the rest of the set made up by chatting and audience interaction - a few one liners were entertaining, but with a performance that had the audience well on their side this is time that would have been put to better use playing great music.
All in all the evening's bands complimented each other to provide a mix of performances that each appealed in its own way to the night's crowd. Changeovers were short and the music was loud and proud, just as it should be.