Taking Back Sunday - Oxford O2 Academy, 14/12/14

Well here we are - my last gig review of the year! It's been a good year for me, going to a bazillion gigs (I can't even work out how many) and reviewing a lot of them, so I was happy that the last gig I went to in 2014 was actually my most anticipated gig of the year. I've been trying to see Taking Back Sunday for the last five years and it's just never come to pass, so this was a long time coming and I was not disappointed.

But before I can review the main event, there were the two support bands. I absolutely love Blitz Kids, and when I saw them in August they were flawless live, so I was a little bit disappointed with their performance. I don't know if it was the venue acoustics, or the strain of having been on consecutive tours with both New Found Glory and Taking Back Sunday, but vocalist Joe James just didn't seem to be able to perform as amazingly vocally as he did the last time that I saw them. However, despite this I still thoroughly enjoyed their set, and it was great to see the crowd reacting amazingly throughout, singing their hearts out through 'On My Own' and closing song 'Perfect'. I still think that bigger things are coming for Blitz Kids, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were headlining this venue this time next year, or at least as soon as they have another album out, but off of the back of this show it could take a bit longer to get there. And even though the singing might have been off, their personalities still shined - Nic flaunting his Darth Vader birthday present (complete with light up light saber) was hilarious, and Joe announcing that "Marmozets will make us look like Boyzone, and then Taking Back Sunday will make us all look like cunts" got a huge laugh from the crowd - and I believe that even audience members who didn't like their music would find it impossible not to like them as people, because they all seem to be extremely lovely.

Setlist: 

Sometimes

Run For Cover

Keep Swinging

Sold My Soul

All I Want Is Everything

On My Own

Perfect

Second up, Marmozets. I genuinely believe they need to rename themselves to Marmite, because all of the people I've spoken to either absolutely adore or utterly detest Marmozets - there is no middle ground. I, for one, am firmly in the latter camp, and no amount of exposure or bribery could possibly change my opinion, so as you can imagine I wasn't at all impressed when they were announced as main support for one of my favourite bands. I have nothing against singer/screamer Becca Macintyre personally, but I am inherently opposed to female screamers - I just think it's one of the most annoying sounds in the world - so there was no way that Marmozets could possibly blow me away in a live environment and destroy all of my preconceptions. However, I ended up loving a single song, namely 'Captivate You', which was atmospherically beautiful in a way that extremely surprised me. Other than that, I didn't enjoy a single moment. I could appreciate how much heart and soul Becca was performing into her vocal, and musically the guitars are amazingly tight, but other than that I just couldn't see the appeal in the slightest. A lot of people were in this room only to see Marmozets - their trajectory in America has been awe-inspiring, and the fact that a practically unknown band without a released album managed to play two sets at Reading is a feat in itself - but while I can respect them for their work ethic and praise them for their success, they just aren't my cup of tea. 

Setlist: 

Born Young and Free

Why Do You Hate Me?

Is It Horrible

Captivate You

Weird and Wonderful

Hit The Wave

Move, Shake, Hide

Vibetech

I thought I was going to be able to say nothing but good things about Taking Back Sunday, but sadly the beginning of the set did fall a little short for me. Kicking off with 'What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost' should have kickstarted the crowd automatically, but while it still got a good reaction it wasn't the electric reaction that I'd been anticipating. That continued to be the theme throughout most of the first half of the set - with the crowd going crazy and vocalist Adam Lazzara seeming too contained in himself to really be putting on an energetic and absorbing performance. Eventually everything clicked, and with Adam's passionate performance combined with the already hectic crowd response, it created an unbeatable atmosphere. That didn't really happen until 'Faith (When I Let You Down)' which was eight songs into the set, but after that it was a flawless set, even though the banter between the band and the crowd was a bit lacking.

Once the show had really gotten going it absolutely exploded; 'Flicker, Fade' sounded superb in a live environment, and the reaction for 'You're So Last Summer' showed that while there were a few people in the room who were only fans of the newer Taking Back Sunday material, most of the crowd were there for the old songs - further cemented by penultimate song 'Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team)', which inciting the biggest mosh pit of their set... Well, second mosh pit... But it was definitely bigger than the first. I will admit that I knew more of the older Taking Back Sunday songs, but after hearing 'Better Homes and Gardens' live I think it's instantly become one of my favourite songs - the emotion in the performance was palpable and it was one of my personal highlights of the set. 

I have take a minute here to applaud Taking Back Sunday for being able to craft an amazing setlist. Not many bands can get the mix between old and new songs perfectly, and when you have six albums I'm sure it's a lot harder to decide what is going to go in your live show, but they covered the majority of their massive hits while also managing to make space for songs off of 'Happiness Is', the album that they're currently promoting. Despite the fact that the beginning of the set was a bit slower than I'd expected, playing 'MakeDamnSure' last was obviously going to get a brilliant reaction, and it was a refreshing change that they didn't play an official encore, because it made the show feel that much more intimate. It was definitely a memorable performance, and that was the perfect way to end an absolutely brilliant night. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest, and I've walked away from their show knowing that if there is one thing that I need to do it is to see Taking Back Sunday again. Hopefully I'll get to do that, and hopefully sooner rather than later. 

Setlist:
What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost

A Decade Under The Influence

Number Five With A Bullet

Stood A Chance

Liar (It Takes One To Know One)

Timberwolves At New Jersey

They Don't Have Any Friends

Faith (When I Let You Down)

Set Phasers To Stun

Better Homes and Gardens

You're So Last Summer

Error: Operator

Beat Up Car

My Blue Heaven

Flicker, Fade

You Know How I Do

All The Way

Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team)

-

MakeDamnSure

Young Guns - Gloucester Guildhall, 20/08/14

I have a talent.

And that talent is that, no matter how early I leave and how on-time I seem to be, I always miss opening bands. 

Sadly, in the past that has been the case with both Only Rivals and Blitz Kids (missing Only Rivals opening for All Time Low in March and Blitz Kids at Slam Dunk South in May) so I was super determined not to miss either of them at this concert and I was not disappointed.

This was my second time seeing, and reviewing, Only Rivals. (The first review can be found here, if you are interested in seeing how they've developed in the last six months.) Previously, I couldn't help drawing comparisons between them and other bands; I knew they had a mixture of various bands elements shoved together, so they sounded predictable and repetitive and blended in with the rest of the scene. However, at this show they could not have been more different. Singer Stephen Arkins has more confidence and stage presence than he did previously, showing that the support slot for All Time Low and the other shows they've been busy with over the past half of a year have caused the band to grow in leaps and bounds. There was a higher percentage of communication with the crowd, another thing that was previously lacking, and it's obvious to see that the band have grown to have more faith in themselves and the songs that they have written. With another support slot on the Pop Punks Not Dead tour with New Found Glory, The Story So Far, State Champs and Candy Hearts coming up quickly in November, you can tell it's going to help Only Rivals develop even more, making me extremely excited to see what new music they will be releasing after all they've learnt from their peers and in themselves. The majority of the set was comprised of the 'Details EP' (which, by the way, is superb and definitely deserves a purchase) with just one other song slotted in, the memorable 'Arsonist' that I fell in love with first time around and still adore in the live environment now, and it was amazing to see a good crowd reaction for a fairly unknown opening band. 

Only Rivals setlist:

Borders
Surgery
When I Die
Arsonist

Details 

History

Second up were Blitz Kids, a band who have been going from strength to strength since the release of Red Bull Records debut 'The Good Youth', playing slots ranging from Channel 4's Sunday Brunch to Black Sabbath's 'BST Hyde Park' show last month. With the members dancing backstage to 'Slam' by Pendulum playing before their set, you can tell the energy and excitement they exude in their live performance isn't false at all, because once they bound on to the stage the adrenaline doesn't let up through the full half an hour. The entire audience was singing along to every word of their songs, proving that this support slot was both a stroke of genius and a perfect fit. I've been eager to see Blitz Kids for months now and I was most definitely not disappointed. Joey James vocals are even more on point live, meaning that instead of being unable to live up to their recorded songs they completely surpass them in a live environment, which is very rare indeed. During the penultimate song, the potential arena-filler 'On My Own', Joey came down to the crowd making fans squeal and rush forward to grab his hand, the likes of which are usually only caused by big names such as Pete Wentz. But maybe that's the point. It's easy to draw comparisons between Blitz Kids and You Me At Six or Fall Out Boy, both bands which saw a speedy growth to chart-topping status. Not many people have realised it, and I don't even think they know it themselves yet, but Blitz Kids are soaring their way to big name status, and I can't see anything slowing the trajectory any time soon. 

Blitz Kids setlist: 

All I Want Is Everything

Run For Cover

Perfect

Sold My Soul

Keep Swinging

On My Own

Sometimes

Sadly, due to an early train and a late stage time, I only managed to see five songs of Young Guns headline set, three of those being from the soon to be released, as yet untitled third album. Kicking off with recent release 'I Want Out' (which, coincidentally, had a video released today) it's obvious that Young Guns are back with a vengeance after the two year gap since the release of 'Bones'. I've seen Young Guns once before, two months before the release of 'All Our Kings Are Dead', so I wasn't expecting their new songs to get such an intense crowd reaction so immediately. The three new tracks have a stronger dance-oriented sound, which is not a negative - all bands develop and after such a great chart success with their second album it's amazing to hear such a marked difference between the songs. This is a band that is not afraid to take risks. The other two songs they played while I was still there were 'Weight of the World' and 'Stitches', both from their first album. On the one hand, it was unfortunate because it means I still haven't heard a single song from 'Bones' live, but on the other it was amazing to see the crowd singing along to these songs as no one knew them last time I saw them performed live. I'm going to be seeing Young Guns at Reading Festival, so I can't wait to see if these songs live up in a festival environment as well as they did at the intimate warm-up last night.