Straight Lines, this 4 piece from South Wales are one of my
favourite up and comers and over the past 3 years I’ve seen them about 7 times,
and every time they impress me and remind me how they should be bigger than
they are. But tonight they are lacking, and it’s not entirely their fault to be
fair, it seems like the sound guy has gone to the Spinal Tap school of sound
engineering and has decided to fob off levels and just turn everything up to
11! The sound is awful, it pierces your
ears as it blasts out over the crowd, the drums can barely be heard behind the
screeching of guitars and distorted vocals, and unlike most gigs the sound
doesn’t get better towards the end of the set, which is truly a shame as
Straight Lines do try hard to get the crowd going, with their normal rocking
out with not too much to say in-between songs.
I also find it unfortunate that they seem to have dropped most of their
older songs in favour of their latest album, which is great but I still expect
a few older songs to placed in a set. They do try to make get the room warmed
up, and I’m sure if the sound was better, then they would have done it with
bells on, but instead it’s the worst I’ve ever seen them, here’s hoping they
have things sorted and are back on track the next time they come around.
Yashin are up next, and again this 5 piece from
Glasgow/Florida are a band I’ve seen numerous times over the past year and
every time they get better and better and after tonight’s opener I fear for the
worst, but I shouldn’t have worried as all the sound problems from before disappear
and Yashin tear the venue to the ground! They sound amazing, the levels are all
correct and the clean and distorted vocals of the two singers Harry Radford and
Kevin Miles cleanse the room with their powerful harmonies. The rest of the band sound equally good, with
the heavy guitar riffs blasting out, alongside the pounding bass and thrashing
drums. Harry wastes no time with the small stage that they have to work with
and decides to jump into the photo pit singing to the crowd whilst posing for
photos with the staff. He jumps back up
onstage but does come back and spends an entire song in the crowd with the
audience spread out in a circle around him; it’s a slow and emotional song
about a friend who was contemplating suicide ‘stand up’ which gets changes the
pace from the rest of the set, but is equally wonderful. Yashin rap there quite
long set up with a cover of Linkin Park’s ‘One Step Closer’ and end with ‘Runaway
Train’. They do really well and have got everyone psyched up and ready for the
main act, so well in-fact that they might find it hard to beat!
We Are The Ocean, are now a 4 piece from Essex (with previous
member Dan Brown leaving back in June last year), and are another band I’ve
seen quite allot in the past year or two. I criticised them at Merthyr Rock as
they were missing something, but I did catch them again before the end of 2012,
and then they were on top form, so it’ll be interesting to see if they’ve continued
that good run. They take to the stage in
darkness and then blast into the first two tracks from new album ‘Maybe Today
Maybe Tomorrow’, ‘Standford Rivers’ and ‘Bleed’. They instantly have the crowd
singing along and are bouncing around the stage with smiles on their faces. It’s
clear to see from the start that they’re continuing their transition to a 4
piece in great style and with much aplomb, very similar to Deaf Havana in that
respect. They sound great, with the crisp vocals coming smoothly over the
speakers, along with the harmonic tones of the guitars, the rumbling bass and
crisp drums they show that they can headline a gig and do it well. They don’t
talk too much in-between songs, but they do show there appreciation for the
crowd and thank them for sticking with them over the past year. They pretty
much play the entire ‘Maybe Today Maybe Tomorrow’ album with only the title
track missing, which shows how much they want to progress and start a fresh,
but they don’t forget their old stuff and play fan favourites ‘The Waiting Room’
and ‘What It Feels Like’ which gets the crowd even more pumped up. The set
lasts a good hour, and after a break they come back out for an encore and wrap
up the night with ‘Young Heart’ the crowd lap up every second and come away delighted.
Overall I was worried that tonight wouldn’t be all too great
with the sound problems for Straight Lines, but Yashin made up for it with a
stonking set that again I thought couldn’t be beaten but We Are The Ocean
smashed all my pre-conceptions and showed me to never doubt them. They’ve come a
long way from when I saw them at Merthyr Rock and have shown me that they can
handle being a 4 piece and that they are a new and improved band that is ready
to carry on rocking around the world.
Straight Lines 1.5/5
Yashin 4/5
We Are The Ocean 4.5/5
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