We Are The In Crowd – Birmingham Academy 2 – 6-2-14 With support from Neck Deep and Save Your Breath

We Are The In Crowd – Birmingham Academy 2 – 6-2-14 With support from Neck Deep and Save Your Breath

 

Tonight is a sell-out, and so it’s bound to be busy, but added to that is the fact downstairs there's another sell-out show, so the academy is crazy. But the kids get down early and the room is almost full by the time the first act takes to the stage.

 

Neck Deep, are a band from Wrexham and are taking the pop punk world by storm, they have a new album out and are on a whirlwind ride to huge success. So it’s great that fans can check them out here before they start to headline this venue themselves. This no nonsense band, take to the stage in silence, no crowd woops just a patient room getting ready to rock, and unfortunately when Neck Deep kick in they are disappointing thanks to the truly awful sound that just blasts bass into the room, making the vocals muffled and the guitars seem like background noise, the only redeeming factor is the high hats and fast pace of the drums, that get over this is a punk band, or else you'd have never known what type of music you were listening to. This is such as shame, as I was so looking forward to seeing this awesome band with an amazing album! But this is just tonight and the Academy 2, so I'm sure this is just the venues poor sound and not the bands, and this is proven to be the case when they play their last song, which takes a more folky turn, with clearer guitars and vocals, but with allot more bass than is needed. Luckily the band are highly energetic throughout the majority of their set and have a great stage presence with singer Ben Barlow jumping, into the crowd and getting the room jumping! They even get chants for one more song after they finish their short set which means the room is hot, sweaty and pumped up for more.

 

Save Your Breath are up next and they take to this humid and damp stage and burst right into fast punk rock songs that sound better than before, but are still poor, but this time it’s not enough to distract from the great music and is minor in comparison. They're fun and frantic and keep the momentum up, this five piece from Newport can barely move on the front of the stage but bassist Ben 33 does his best to get about and do his Rob Trujillo impressions, gurning and walking like a gorilla. The crowd is loving every second and jumps around like demented beasts, if they keep this up they’ll be tired out by the time We Are The In Crowd hit the stage! They play a short set with great songs like Harrow Road and Touchpaper with little talking in between songs. They leave the stage happy in the knowledge that they’ve entertain this crowd to a high level.

 

We Are The In Crowd take to the stage late, as a few fans have to be pulled out because of exhaustion. The room is boiling, it’s like a sauna/muddy festival as the floor makes people slip and slide and the walls are sweating. The security get some extra footing by bringing in a rubber mat to stand on whilst the stage is thoroughly dried so the band don't have an accident. But they come out eventually to huge screams and blast straight into The Best Thing (That Never Happened) from their soon to be released second album Weird Kids, which instantly turns into a sing along. The sound is better than before, but not by a huge amount but at least you can hear each individual instrument and Tay Jardines beautiful vocals with its accompanying harmonies from guitarist Jordon Eckes. They work the crowd into a frenzy, with they're catchy pop rock anthems, they continue they're set with Manners, The Worst Thing About Me, Kiss Me Again, Never Be What You Want and Lights Out. They’re latest album already seems to be part of the fans consciousness as it goes down massively. They really know how to put on a show with every member jumping around the stage like a wild lion leaping after a gazelle. They’re a fun band and have a lead singer that's raising the bar for front woman and men with her unique stylish ways that shows she's a pro at working a room, and can give the best in the business a run for their money. They don't talk to the crowd to much but they do thanks them for, coming and tell them, how awesome they are. They wrap up their set with For The Win, Long Live The Kids, Exits and Etrances which include a few slow numbers to calm the evening including the moving sing Windows In Heaven about Tay’s father who sadly passed away, which gets a tear into many a fans eye as they sing they're hearts out. The wrap up with Attention before they come back for an encore with their highest hits to date including Both Sides Of The Story and the anthemic Rumor Mill of their debut album, Best Intentions. The room explodes in a heat wave and a final blast of energy for the night before they leave the stage.

 

Tonight has been great but could have been so much better if it wasn't for the sound problems. The up and coming Neck Deep showed how much they have to give before Save Your Breath got everyone ready to rock and We Are The In Crowd took the crowd on a journey of highs and lows in a beautiful serenade of pop rock.

 

Neck Deep 2.5/5

Save Your Breath 3/5

We Are The In Crowd 3.5/5