Kerrang! Relentless Tour - Cardiff Great Hall 2 Feb 11th
Standing in a queue on your own, you start to remember how much you hate the public...
Standing in a queue on your own, you start to remember how much you hate the public. That aside, Im inside and While She Sleeps have already started their set. The organizers clearly not keen on letting the fans in before starting the gig. Im surprisingly sober, but Id alleviate that (expensively) soon enough. Speaking of the first on, While She Sleeps, are a group that appear to be steadily building some momentum on the metal and hardcore scene in Britain, hailing from Sheffield and purveying a very modern blend of hardcore and metal that is intrinsically melodic as it is impressively heavy. Though first on this young band already have this audience in the palm of their hands, with many a hand held aloft and chant reciprocated; Crows being a particularly noticeable set highlight for the band and the crowd. Guitar lines melodic and breakdowns punishing, theres a future on the horizon for these Sheffielders. http://youtu.be/ZLboWkrSrVI letlive. have been steadily snowballing since the release of their last album Fake History and its subsequent re-release over here last year. Both alternative media and music fan alike have been taking to them with keen interest and fascination. If you werent already familiar with their brand of post-hardcore/progressive hardcore to understand, youd soon see why were you to witness them live. They start their set as they do the previously mentioned album with Le Prologue bleeding into The Sick, Sick 6.8 Billion, but within seconds they have erupted and crowd alike. Most notably of course front man Jason Aalon Butler who, having arrived on stage in a striking Hawaiian shirt, from the moment the first notes are struck and his vocals required, has shot from one side of the stage to the other, by way of a stop to mosh his socks off and some microphone acrobatics that see him launch mic and lead into the air and crowd, pulling it back and catching it spot on perfectly in the space of time it takes to take a breath between lyrical flourishes. All this before your eyes have truly had the chance to get a proper focus on him; suffice to see anyone in the crowd who felt they didnt have a good view beforehand get to see plenty of the kinetic front man no matter where they are. http://youtu.be/SXURelyq2fo The band deliver a flawless and adrenalin filled set that goes some way to showing anyone who wasnt sure why this band are getting all the attention theyve been getting of late. Not just anarchy to the eye but also a passionate, humble and embracing performance from all of the band, Butler taking plenty of time to connect with the crowd with humour and sincere appreciation of the crowd just being there. This is clearly reciprocated as on one of many visits into the crowd he loses a shoe, upon mentioning this to the crowd, one fan decides to offer up their own shoe as a replacement for his. Its an unfortunately short slot given the talent on display, but given that theyve recently signed to Epitath and theres a new album on the horizon for release this year, therell be headline slots soon to follow, and given what they can do with a 7 song set (some already classic songs, extended live variations on their own songs that work, an intense cover of Fix Me by Black Flag, relentless energy), a headline slot will no doubt deliver wonders. http://youtu.be/W4ST7VT39cs Next up on the bill, we have Marmite. Sum 41 were in this spot initially when the tour was announced, a versus tour between Sum 41 and New Found Glory, however due to some serious back issues with Deryck Whibley the band had to pull out before the tour had even begun. Quick to step up to plate as replacements were for the entire tour were Wales own The Blackout; herein lies the Marmite. The band themselves and their placement on the bill is very much so split between love and hate. For this very reason we get some members of the crowd who wouldnt even have been here were it not for The Blackout, and we also get members of the crowd who see fit to give the band the finger for the entire duration of their set (one particular girl being so dedicated that even when out of the Great Hall walking to the toilet she still kept he finger aloft and aimed at the stage until she entered the toilet I imagine she didnt even stop whilst using the toilet, such dedication to outrage). A few people left (the smoking area reached smoke saturation point) but others either remained, or ran to the front to show an unashamed amount of worship for this young band. Kudos go, where kudos be given, nothing about this evening phased the band. They came out and played the gig like they were headlining, though not everyones cup of tea, that level of confidence and thick skin is something anyone can appreciate, and they delivered a solid performance, possibly converting some but endlessly pleasing the loyal; even chucking in Fat Lip by Sum 41 as a peacemaker, and by the end of the set most of the crowd were singing right back at them. http://youtu.be/BNYgeSKu8gQ No such trouble for our headliners tonight though. New Found Glory very much find their glory, new and old, in this crowd tonight. The audience casting a wide span of age and demographic throughout its sold out numbers. For some its nostalgia, for others its still exactly what theyre all about and perhaps even more still having come to the band new and fresh faced in fandom. Showing that NFGs brand of pop punk is just as relevant now as it ever was, if not more so. Regardless of any individuals reason for being here tonight for New Found Glory, they get exactly what they want and more. The band displaying the exuberance and genuine enthusiastic energy that theyve always been known for, with songs new and old sitting perfectly with fans old and new. Even breaking in some covers around their own pop punk gems, like the sugary guilty pleasure that is their cover of Six Pence None the Richers Kiss Me. Even though years apart the new songs like Radiosurgery sit perfectly with classics like Failures Not Flattering, and of course the ever enjoyable encore of My Friends Over You. Regardless of anything and everything tonight, these pop punk princes left the all the crowd smiling as they left the stage, and the fans headed for home, and what more could you want? Cheaper beer I guess. http://youtu.be/QfcLcDBII78