A busier than normal O2 academy stands in front of me, tonight it seems like there are more people about and its for a band that hasn't had a album out in almost two years and yet tonight's gig sold out quick and the kids can't wait to get in and start rocking out.
I get inside the venue and its already hot with sweat coming down the walls, and tonight's event hasn't even started yet, all of a sudden the lights go down and there's a massive cheer as Young Guns take to the stage. The crowd love Young Guns, they can't get enough of their alt rock high pitched guitar sound. The Young Guns have a big following in the midlands and its no surprise why as they thrash about the stage and give the crowd a great show. They released there first album last year and they play the majority of tracks from it including 'Weight of the world' 'Winter Kiss' and the latest single, the hauntingly beautiful 'Stitches'. The Young Guns put on a great performance which is rather homed to perfection by now as they've been playing these songs for a few years and have got into a routine, its great for people who haven't seen it but for regular fans they need to ad something new in there upcoming tour later in the year, but saying that I was quite disappointed that they didn't play the stable fan favourite 'Sons Of Apathy'.
Next up is one of those bands I really dug back in 2002 but they seemed to disappear and randomly they've appeared almost ten years later on a tour which they fit into quite well, its just a shame that the audience here being quite young have never heard of them and so hopefully they're set will make people appreciate them like I did all that time ago. Well the band appears on stage and says "I have one question, did you guys come here tonight to see a rock and roll show? Did you guys come here to have the most fun in your entire life? We're Yellowcard, here we go!" and boom like a shot they break into 'Lights and Sounds' which goes out to a crowd that seems to enjoy the music but doesn't really know any of the words to sing along and jump around to, but they're punky violin rock goes down well. They bounce around and definitely have got better with experience. The sound is great with the violin being prominent throughout and the set includes two of my favourites 'Way Away' and 'Oceans Avenue' which they end they're set on and by the end the crowd have gotten into it and the band promise to come back later in the year, so hopefully they'll have got some new fans out of tonight's show.
The final act tonight and the band everyone here came to see is Maryland pop punkers All Time Low. The crowd eagerly await ATL and without any warning they jump out onto the stage and kick into 'Keep the change' which goes down to some of the loudest screams I've ever heard. They're set is pretty basic for the main academy but to be fair they have had there thoughts on making a new album instead of this tour which is a bit of a reminder that they're still here instead of plugging there new album that is still awaiting a release date. But people know they're still here and they're happy that they are with a set-list that includes all of there singles which makes every song a singalong and I'm sure the girls here can be heard singing 'Damned if I do' for miles around. The band sound pretty good and put on a good show which gets screams every time a member of the band get closer to the audience, but the bands main selling point other than their catchy poppy songs are the banter they have. No gig is the same with these guys and that's always a good thing as you know your going to get something different and tonight the crowd are rejoiced with banter such as "this is the first show in the UK where people have been crowd surfing", "have you ever had a handjob at Nandos?", "it turns out you know how to party and you've come here to do it" and "can we not talk about handjobs when my parents are in the audience". but the best bit of creativity is getting a kid up on stage just because they think he looks like Harry Potter, which they then shout random spells out at him.
They sound good and the crowds in a good mood, they through in an extra surprise by doing an acoustic cover of Katy Perry's Teenage dream which all the crowd sings word for word leaving Alex with very little to do, but he flows into the acoustic track Remembering Sunday which sounds ever so sweet and is a nice change of pace. He leaves the stage and the band come back for an encore which gets the last bit of energy out of the crowd as they play 'Weightless' and 'Dear Maria, count me in' which ends the night on a high.
Overall tonight's gig was fun, it was a venue full of young girls which meant I went home with a headache from all the screaming they did but the bands impressed them and myself and although I am left feeling like there should be something more I know that everyone else here is satisfied and are a whole lot happier for seeing All Time Low.
Young Guns 3
Yellowcard 3.5
All Time Low 4
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