Pierce The Veil - Brixton O2 Academy, 27/11/16

Hanging out in Brixton before the show, I wouldn't have been blamed for assuming this was a Creeper headline show. I saw more people with their distinctive Callous Heart back patch than I saw people wearing Pierce The Veil shirts, and when vocalist Will Gould came skipping out on to the stage the screams were ear-piercing. 

They managed to get the first circle pit of the night going during 'The Honeymoon Suite', and despite the fact that new single 'Suzanne' has only been out for a little over a month the majority of people in the room were singing along to every word (even though the chorus still sounds like screeching cats meowing to me...). Will was humbled by the reaction, as he normally is: this man doesn't seem able to accept the success that the band are experiencing. He thanked the crowd at multiple points, taking the time after 'Valentine' to shout "Thank you so much, Brixton! That's fucking awesome!" in response to the crowd's response to their set, and dedicating closer 'Misery' to Pierce The Veil for bringing them on the tour, saying that it was "absolutely wild" and "so fucking great to be here". He also shared that "in the two years we've been doing this band, this is our favourite tour we've ever been on", stating that playing with letlive. meant playing with "some of the best people we've ever met, some of the best friends we've ever met" before dedicating 'Astral Projection' to them. I don't think the folks in Creeper are capable of disliking anyone.

Their success is mind-blowing, particularly when you consider that their debut album, 'Eternity In Your Arms', isn't set to be released until the end of March. Reminding the crowd that they'd only been around for two years just hammers home the fact that they're experiencing a very strange and rapid trajectory, and I'm interested to see where they'll be in two years time. 

Setlist:

VCR

Black Mass

The Honeymoon Suite

Suzanne

Valentine

Astral Projection

Misery

Have you ever seen a grown man tear a carpet from the ground and throw it at a crowd of people? 

No? 

Well, I guess that means you haven't been to a letlive. show then!

Jason Aalon Butler proved himself to be one of the world's most energetic frontmen once again.

Moments after coming on stage he'd thrown his microphone stand into the air and leaped into the crowd, screaming his heart out as tech guys flooded the stage and frantically attempted to fix his destruction, trying to both reassemble the stand and keep his trailing microphone wire elevated above the heads of the crowd.

Most frontmen take the time to climb back on to the stage in a sensible manner, but not Jason! He launched himself and landed on his back, rolling over and stumbling to his feet, still relentlessly screaming as he wandered back towards the centre of the stage. He stopped for a moment to take a drink of water then decided to pour his drink all over himself, writhing sexily under the stream of liquid, all the while wrapping his microphone wire tighter and tighter around his throat. 

Then he broke out into a brief cover of Michael Jackson's 'Man In The Mirror'. 

And all of that happened during 'Renegade '86'. 

Saying it was an explosive way to start the set would be an understatement. It was the most exciting five minutes I've ever experienced in my life, and while it would have been completely understandable if the rest of the set had been disappointing, it just kept getting better. The carpet incident happened during 'That Fear Fever', after a brief game of bounce the drumstick - which resulted in Jason launching it across the stage at drummer Loniel Robinson's head - and after Jason had casually walked through almost the entirety of the crowd, heedless of the cable still trailing his every step, stood on random members of the audience towards the back of the room and simply fallen backwards, allowing them to catch him and deposit him safely on the floor.

Then it was time for the carpet to feel his wrath. Clambering gracelessly back on to the stage once more, he rolled to the floor, tugging at one of the corners with a furious look on his face. It rolled back easily, making it question why a badly fixed carpet was needed on the stage, but before I could question it too deeply Jason was wrapping himself up in it, wearing it like the world's most uncomfortable snuggie blanket. He obviously agreed that it wasn't the most sensible costume to wear while performing, but instead of putting the carpet back down he launched it into the crowd, the heavy material landing on the audience with an audible thwack. It's testament to how much people adore and respect letlive. that there were no complaints about his reckless behaviour. It was the highlight of my evening. 

But letlive. don't rely too heavily on Jason's stage antics. They're touring to support their new album 'If I'm The Devil...', which was released back in June, and based on the reaction to the newer songs - which Jason toned down his performance to effectively showcase - they're doing a damn good job of attracting new fans with each album they put out. They seem to be taking a stand with their new album, particularly where 'Reluctantly Dead' is concerned (the only song which featured Jason playing guitar as well as singing), and he isn't afraid to bring their new-found politicism into their live show. He went as far as encouraging the crowd to chant "Fuck Donald Trump" after announcing that letlive. "don't believe in bigotry, we don't believe in hate, we don't believe in war", and that political strand is also weaved through 'Good Mourning, America', which targets gun crime statistics. 

But compared to the overt messages in those two songs, the other two new releases they chose to put in their set had a completely different feel.

Introducing 'A Weak Ago', Jason explained that it was written "in memoriam of a town where we grew up" and asked "if you have any interest in music as an art form, as an expression, then we implore you to jump up and down like they would have in the 90s". 

Then there was the only slow song they performed, 'Foreign Cab Rides', which Jason introduced poignantly, sharing his vulnerabilities by admitting "I spent a lot of my life believing that romance and love was just something they wrote about, something in the movies. I believed it was unattainable, and I told myself I wasn't deserving of it. But nights like this? I feel love." Following the round of applause from the crowd, he enthused "Every single person in this room is deserving of love in some capacity, but most importantly make sure to give love to yourselves. Be good to yourselves." The contrast between the maniac wearing a carpet at the start of the set and this open and emotional version of Jason is one of the reasons people respect him so much: he knows how to put on a show, but he also knows that he's human, and he's allowed to show his softer side. 

But it didn't last for long. As soon as 'Banshee (Ghost Fame)' started he was back to his crazily energetic ways, inciting the biggest circle pit of the night so far before rolling an amp on to the stage, taking a moment to ride it like an extremely wobbly and tall skateboard before bellyflopping on top of it and launching himself across the stage, nearly colliding with the drum kit AND one of the guitarists during his journey. 

How he gets away with doing things like that on stage, I'll never know. 

He was completely out of breath following the non-stop action, merely saluting the crowd as he unbuttoned his shirt, panting heavily at the back of the stage before stepping forward to introduce penultimate track 'Muther'. Jason has no qualms about speaking on stage, and he took the opportunity to call out any misogynists or sexists in the crowd before the song started. He asked if he could take a moment to speak to any women in the room, then announced "This world is going to act like you owe them something. [...] Women? You don't owe this world shit. You are the reason this world spins around and around, don't let no man tell you otherwise. Men in this room, if you feel entitled to take this from a woman emotionally, mentally - even more detrimentally, physically - I'll be around this whole evening to punch you in your motherfucking face." 

I hadn't thought the applause and cheers that they'd been receiving throughout their set could get any louder, but the reaction to this statement was raucous, and Jason had to stop speaking for a couple of minutes to allow the crowd to calm down. He wrapped up his speech by sharing that "the only two people in this world who taught me to be a man were two women" and dedicated the song to his mother and sister, before inviting Hannah Greenwood from Creeper back on to the stage to perform the part of the female co-vocalist. After Hannah left the stage Jason followed her, disappearing for a couple of minutes before appearing on the balcony to the side of the seating area upstairs in the venue. 

When Jason eventually returned to the stage, it was time for letlive.'s last song, the previously mentioned 'Good Mourning, America'. Of course, Jason couldn't pass up on the opportunity to finish the set with a bang, and after he climbed up on to the drum kit he launched himself backwards, breaking the kit into pieces while Loniel was still playing. There were still circle pits going on as the band finished, the crowd seeming unwilling for their set to finish, and I don't think it'll be long at all before letlive. are headlining this venue. Sets from support bands don't get better than this.  

Setlist:

Renegade '86 (+ Man In The Mirror snippet)

That Fear Fever

A Weak Ago

Foreign Cab Rides

The Dope Beat

Reluctantly Dead

Banshee (Ghost Fame)

Muther (ft. Hannah Greenwood)

Good Mourning, America

After letlive.'s consistently explosive performance, Pierce The Veil had a lot to live up to. With a screen unfurling to cover the stage while they were setting up it was obvious that they were getting ready to pull something special out of the bag, but with so many people in the audience only attending to see the support acts, the headliners had a fight on their hands. 

The screen had an animation projected on to it, illustrations in the style of the cover of 'Misadventures' showing a rocket flying through the sky hitting pigeons against its windscreen, exploring the depths of the oceans and eventually crashlanding in London. When the stage was revealed it showed a broken rocket framing Mike Fuentes' drums, the four members of Pierce The Veil climbing out from the windows and the wreckage in astronaut suits before diving in to 'Dive In', their most recent single (the video for which was released days before the show).
The first half of the set was a mixed bag of material. Bringing back old favourites 'Caraphernalia' and 'Bulletproof Love' (during which vocalist Vic Fuentes picked a fan called Lauren out of the crowd to sing the first verse to, shouting that it was his "favourite part of the night right now!" when he sat her on a stool and sang directly to her as she cried her eyes out), they then chose to include the beautifully tender acoustic 'Kissing In Cars', a surprise for a set that was favouring their heavier songs until that point.
Vic shared the story behind 'Kissing In Cars' while the other members set up their acoustic instruments, admitting "This one wasn't meant to be heard by anybody in the world. This was supposed to be a wedding present for Jaime's best friend." He went on to explain that Jaime's friend gave them a list of words that reminded him of his soon-to-be wife and asked, "Can you make a song out of these words?". "We wrote this for them. Now here we are ten years later singing this to all you here in London," Vic yelled to rapturous applause, and he was blown away by the reaction when every person in the room started chanting the words back to him, admitting "I don't think I've ever heard this many people sing at once in my life."
They played a good amount of their new album: as well as 'Dive In', they included 'Texas Is Forever', 'The Divine Zero' and 'Floral and Fading' in the main part of their set (the latter which Vic shared he wrote "for [his] girlfriend Danielle. She's here somewhere tonight, she flew all the way from California to be here!", before pointing directly at her towards the back of the room, crooning "Oh, I see you girl."), putting 'Circles' in the encore to break up the chunk of songs from 'Collide With The Sky'. The fans don't seem to have fully accepted the new songs just yet, the yelling and cheering reactions reserved for the older songs that they played, but if they keep performing them this solidly it won't take long before they become set staples. I'm interested to see which songs from 'Misadventures' they choose to include in their set when they play Download festival next summer.
They neatly split their set into two, taking a moment at the end of 'Kissing In Cars' to walk off of the stage and have their new 'Misadventures' backdrop switched with one featuring the 'Collide With The Sky' artwork. Their third album is still their most popular - their new album having flown under the radar in comparison - and it's refreshing to see a band that accept that their audience want to hear older material and not just the new album that they're currently touring. Whereas they could have put in more songs from the new album and received a less enthusiastic response, they know what their fans want to hear and are not afraid to cater to that.
Because of their support band, one song was guaranteed to make it into the set: 'Tangled In The Great Escape', which features Jason Aalon Butler. Despite the fact that he'd just played a relentless set of his own, his energy level wasn't diminished and it was the most successful song Pierce The Veil played. "It's very rare that we play that song, and we only do it when we tour with letlive.," Vic shared, and as it was always my favourite song on 'Collide With The Sky' I became even more grateful that I'd been able to attend this show.
Halfway through the set, Vic took a moment to thank the crowd, saying "This is the most special show to us that we've ever played in our career. We've been a band for about ten years now and this is the biggest headline show we've played in our entire careers.". It made his message during 'The Divine Zero' even more inspirational: "You don't have to grow up to do the thing that you love, you can do it right fucking now."
Pierce The Veil are doing what they love. It's obvious from the chemistry between the four members (completed by bassist and backing vocalist Jaime Preciado and guitarist Tony Perry) that there's no inner turmoil or tension that could possibly bring these four down. For a band who've never had a personnel change it's surprising that they still get along so easily after a decade, and their onstage interactions are still fun to watch - particularly when Vic pointed his guitar at Jaime like it was a gun, causing him to fall to the floor and lie motionless before bouncing back into action and leaping across the stage. This band won't repeat themselves, constantly striving to further their stage show and surprise their fans on every tour. Can you point to another band who would climb out of a rocket to take to the stage?
Some people have dismissing Pierce The Veil due to the lack of chart success experienced by 'Misadventures', but I think that's naive. They're not likely to release another album like 'Collide With The Sky', but they're still getting stronger with every year that they stay together.

Setlist:

Dive In 

Caraphernalia

Texas Is Forever

The Divine Zero

Bulletproof Love

Floral and Fading

Kissing In Cars (acoustic)

May These Noises Startle You In Your Sleep Tonight

Hell Above

Bulls In The Bronx

Tangled In The Great Escape (ft. Jason Aalon Butler)

Hold On Till May

-

Circles

King For A Day

Funeral For a Friend - O2 Forum, London, 21/05/16

This is one of the most heartbreaking reviews that I've ever had to write. It was sad when I saw Kids in Glass Houses for the last time. It bruised my soul seeing The Blackout's last ever festival appearance. But to attend the last show - not one of the last, but the last - of a band as legendary and influential as Funeral For a Friend?
I wasn't surprised when they announced their break-up. A band that have been together for fifteen years and had their most successful album sales a decade ago are bound to be at risk. Expecting it and accepting it are two extremely different things though: I still can't really believe the news, even though sitting here writing this review unquestioningly proves the band are done (for now at least, we can always hope for a reunion...).
It was an emotional evening when I saw their last Welsh show a matter of weeks ago, but I knew this one was going to be much harder to get through.

It helped that Zoax were the opening act for the evening. I've praised them multiple times before for their invigorating, enthralling performance; as soon as Zoax come on stage it's as though a spell has been cast, because it's impossible to pull your eyes away. Adam Carroll is magnetic as he paces up and down the stage, shifting from a guttural roar to a harmonic vocal, and I adore the variety that the songs from their brand new self-titled record (released last week) introduce into the set.
It's the first time that I've heard any of their new material live, and you can hear the development that Zoax have been through over the last year. Instead of the frenetic, barely contained energy ripping the stage apart, the guitar work is more nuanced, while the drumming drives the songs forward at such a fast pace that it felt like their set was over before it had even begun. The shift between indecipherable growling and beautifully clear vocal is always a popular style (think Of Mice and Men) but being able to use one vocalist to do both, rather than having two, makes them stand head and shoulders above everyone else.
I haven't seen Zoax in a room of this size before. The first time I saw them they were at the O2 Academy in Oxford, which is markedly smaller than the one in Kentish Town (almost exactly half the capacity) while the second time they were opening a stage at Takedown Festival, meaning that their crowd was much smaller. At both of these shows Adam worked his way out into the crowd and performed in the audience; considering the size difference I definitely hadn't been expecting him to try that at this show.
But then 'Bitter.Angry.Fake' began. The only non-album track to make it into the set, coming from their 2014 EP 'XIII', it's filled with a vicious energy. When Adam stepped off of the stage and started walking around the crowd you could feel the anticipation in the air - where was he going? What was he doing? - and when he started up the staircase towards the balcony I was ecstatic; I had seating tickets, and it meant I still felt involved in Zoax's set despite being distant from the crowd. Walking along the front row of seats, Adam chose a spot to stop and sing, leaning down to the person next to him and asking "on a scale of 1 to 10 how fucking awkward are you?". It's a ballsy move for an opening act to be so interactive with the crowd as the likelihood is that they haven't purchased tickets just to see you, but Adam owned the room.
He didn't bother to return to the stage for 'The Bad Blood', heading straight out into the middle of the crowd and clearing a gap for himself. Again, he joked around with the crowd, pointing to one of the guys stood at the front of his circle and quipping "he looks so fucking scared!". Pacing in the circle, throwing himself into the performance, Adam is a man possessed by his music, and you can see how much he feels every note played up on the stage.
Closer 'The Wave' is a devastatingly gorgeous song. Stripped back, toned down, there's no screaming but there is an extremely powerful vocal performance that proves once and for all that Adam can sing; as though there could be any doubt left following the rest of the set. Dedicating the track to Funeral For a Friend, Adam thanked the band for all that they'd done for Zoax, stating that the invite to support them on their final tour "was a childhood dream", because he could remember buying 'Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation' and being blown away by it. You could see how much effort he was putting in to the performance, and it was very tender and emotional; the perfect closer for the first set of the night. 

Zoax are playing Download festival next month, so if you're attending the festival theirs is one set you can't afford to miss.

Setlist:

Ksychia (*)

Lonely Souls

Roses All The Way

Bitter.Angry.Fake

The Bad Blood

Devil Dance

The Wave

(*) song title found on setlist.fm 

Fresh from supporting Andy Black on his first UK solo tour, Creeper were a late addition to the bill after the announcement of the rescheduled dates. As it came close to their stage time the room fell to darkness, the piano music piping through the speakers inducing a creepy atmosphere and tossing a blanket of silence over the expectant crowd, the only light illuminating the giant heart logo emblazoned on their backdrop. This kind of entrance is normally reserved for the headline act, and with vocalist Will Gould's swaggering confidence and songs as catchy as the singalong-centric 'Valentine' and recent single 'Black Mass', Creeper are definitely headline material.
Despite the fact that they were taking the room by storm, stirring the rapidly growing crowd into a frenzy, Will pronounced "tonight is not about our band, tonight is about a very special band who we've had the privilege of opening for multiple times".
It turns out that Creeper exist thanks to Matthew Davies-Kreye, Funeral For a Friend's vocalist. Before 'Astral Projection', which they dedicated to the band, Will shared a story about his and Ian Miles' (one of Creeper's two guitarists) old band - Our Time Down Here. The band broke up a few years ago, but before the split Matt went to see them play in Swansea "a small DIY show [with] no one there". Despite the fact that the band were breaking up, Matt listened to their record 'Midnight Mass' "and he paid his own money to get that pressed to vinyl". Yes, that's right, they'd already announced their split and Matt thought their album was so good that it deserved an investment. It's always been a well-known fact that Funeral For a Friend have supported the upcoming music scene, nurturing new bands as though they were helpless baby birds; it's a testament to them that the members of a band they helped have started a new project and have played with them multiple times (Creeper's first ever tour was opening for Funeral For a Friend). Will couldn't thank Matt enough, stating "there are only so many times we can start again when struggling, and we started again because of Matt. If one of our idols cared about what we were doing, it couldn't be that crap. [...] We, as a band, as well as other people, owe a lot to Funeral For a Friend".
You could see that Will was getting emotional towards the end of their set, particularly before they played 'Henley's Ghost'. He explained that they normally close their sets with this song, but "this evening feels a lot more significant, because once this is done Funeral come on stage for the last time ever, so I kind of don't want to finish talking...". The crowd all cheered along to this; I don't think anyone would have been angry at all if Creeper had refused to leave the stage, not allowing that final set to ever begin. It was a consolation that their final song was so beautiful; similarly to Zoax, they finished on a comparatively chilled out song rather than choosing one with a fast beat, and it definitely pushed Will's vocal to the limits. I hadn't realised quite how powerful his voice was, but I was struck by the similarity to the late and great Freddie Mercury with his flamboyantly extravagant way of tackling every song he performed.
I'd forgotten how brilliant Creeper were live, but I'm not going to allow the knowledge to slip my mind again. I wasn't that interested in seeing them at Slam Dunk because of the close proximity to this show (I'm attending Slam Dunk next Monday) but - set clashes permitting - I'm going to have to fight my way into the Fresh Blood room to see them own that crowd too.

Setlist:

VCR

Black Mass

The Honeymoon Suite

Valentine
Gloom

Astral Projection

Lie Awake

Henley's Ghost

After two such brilliant - nay, flawless - support sets, Funeral For a Friend needed to pull out all the stops to steal the show. Being their last show, they had to put on the headline show of their lives; it would have been a bit embarrassing if they'd been overshadowed by one of their support acts! But when they walked out on stage the two bands that came earlier were completely forgotten. Before any of the members had played a note on their instrument, the applause and cheering from the crowd was deafening. Matt thanked everyone, saying that "we never in a million years thought we'd be in the situation" and that the band were "incredibly humbled [...] incredibly grateful" for the welcome that the crowd was giving them. As this was an album in full show, he introduced it by saying "for the very, very last time, we're Funeral For a Friend, and this is 'Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation'"; the band then dived straight into the playback of their extremely successful debut album.
When 'Casually Dressed...' was released thirteen years ago, it debuted at number 12 on the UK album charts. It hit gold certification within a year, which is an extremely impressive feat for any band; it shows just how much of an impact their two EPs ('Between Order and Model' and 'Four Ways to Scream Your Name') made on the scene. Its popularity has not diminished with the passing years, that much was apparent the moment the opening chords of 'Rookie of the Year' blasted out into the venue, causing the crowd to surge forward in a sea of movement that tossed and turned relentlessly for the almost two hours of their set.
If you've seen Funeral For a Friend before, and you thought that songs like 'Escape Artists Never Die' and 'Red is the New Black' were impressive, you want to hear them with over 2,000 people screaming along to every word. Whereas some of the recent tours that Funeral For a Friend have put on have been smaller, lower capacity rooms and with less shows selling out than they once managed, this tour united Funeral For a Friend fans past and present, old and new, and gathered a selection of rabid, enthusiastic fans that really wanted to show their love and appreciation for the band one last time.
As well as the fans going crazy, from my vantage point up on the balcony I could see the amount of people gathering around to watch the band from side of stage. The crowd included Adam from Zoax, who was enthusiastically air drumming to himself through the entirety of 'Bullet Theory'. When he then burst back on to the stage to perform the unclean vocal on 'Juneau' you could see how pleased he looked - as he mentioned during Zoax's set, he's been a fan of the band for years, so being able to say that he was on stage with them during their last ever show must be a surreal fact. The interaction between the two vocalists worked wonderfully: 'Juneau' has never sounded that good. They also had a co-vocalist on 'Escape Artists Never Die', their guitar tech Nash, and if he doesn't have another job lined up after this tour he should definitely consider starting a band, because his vocal was stellar as well.
I couldn't remember 'Moments Forever Faded', but when Matt introduced the song he was passionate in his speech regarding abusive relationships: "this issue still worries me all the time, how anybody in a loving relationship, or any situation, could willingly raise a hand to that personal and abuse them physically or mentally. Are we not civilized enough to realise that is not acceptable?". Sharing the fact that he was bullied in school, he urged "it's not wrong to seek help, it's not weak to look for a way out of that situation" - I'd forgotten how vocal Funeral For a Friend were about the issues in society that disturbed and upset them, and it was very appreciated by the crowd. The song did not ring any bells to me at all, but I'm going to make a concerted effort to listen to it more in the future, because it's very powerful lyrically.
As I mentioned earlier, the response to 'Red is the New Black' was utterly insane, and Matt took a moment before the song to thank the crowd once more. He claimed that it was "the most enjoyable yet saddest set [he'd] ever played in [his] life" before encouraging the crowd to sing the first verse without him joining in, just the audience and Kris's guitar. Stating "we've done this every single time on this tour and we've been keeping a tally of which audience is best [...] If I have to join in, it means you're fucking terrible!" that definitely wound the crowd up. I've been to a lot of shows where the audience have been encouraged to sing along unaccompanied and it often degrades into madness and mumbling: I've never heard a group of people louder or more in sync than at this show. If the rest of the crowds on the tour have been this enthusiastic, I can't imagine it's made the decision to break up any easier on the guys.
I'd also forgotten how beautiful 'Your Revolution is a Joke' was. With three of the members stepping off stage, it let Kris and Matt alone to perform the acoustic track: compared to the hectic guitar work and constant movement of the rest of the album, these few minutes were poignant, memorable and emotionally fraught. Matt's voice had never sounded better, clearly ringing out above the crowd, and I had goosebumps from the first moment until the last chord rang out.

Of course the album in full was going to go down well: the majority of the people who purchased tickets would have been familiar with the majority of the first section of the set, if not the entire thing. It had been a very long time since I'd heard the album myself (I hadn't been able to bring myself to listen to it before going to the show, because it was just too emotional) but memories of most of the songs came flooding back to me.
I still think of myself as a fairly new Funeral For a Friend fan (I have been a fan of them for seven years, but that's less than half of the time that they were together, so compared to the hardcore old school followers in the room I was a newbie) but they've been with me through good times and bad times over the last few years, and I'm really appreciative to them for being a staple part of my personal soundtrack.

The second half of the set was a selection of the other material they've released throughout their career, focusing on the early years. Bringing back original members Darran Smith and Ryan Richards for 'This Year's Most Open Heartbreak' was the most exciting moment of the evening: I'm not afraid to admit that I may have shed a little tear, seeing those two returning to give the band the farewell that they deserve. After the appearance of Adam during 'Juneau' I hadn't been expecting any more surprises, but that reunion was the icing on the cake that was this show. 

The saddest thing about this show - other than it being the last time Funeral For a Friend would play as a band - is that this was the best I've ever seen them play live. This was my fourth time seeing them, which I'm very grateful for (just twelve months ago I'd only seen them once, at their Reading festival 2013 appearance) but it was undoubtedly better than the previous three shows I'd experienced.
I don't know if it was the excitement from the crowd that invigorated the band, but I've never seen Matt jumping around as much as he did last night. Every other song he was bouncing along to the introduction, getting higher than I thought would be possible from standing, filled to the brim with an energy that has been lacking in the recent past. Maybe it was just the fact that it was the last show - throwing everything into it because it was the last chance to dance - but it was impressive; you wouldn't have been able to tell that he was 36 if he hadn't shared that fact later in the evening. It was ironic: Matt was moving around more than he normally would, and that would normally point towards a rougher vocal due to the breathlessness of the exercise, but - as I mentioned earlier - it's the best I've ever heard him sing, too. 'Casually Dressed...' sounded exactly as it did on the recording, and even jumping back to the earlier songs they sounded note for note perfect. There wasn't a dud moment at any point of the show, and the setlist in particular was crafted to perfection, despite the fact that Matt joked around "even at the end, the facade of professionalism, we still can't keep it up! Nobody's ever called us professional. Keeping the dream alive right until the last fucking show". Part of Funeral For a Friend's charm will always be that they were so down to earth; fame never went to their heads.
Later in the evening, Matt shared the origin story of Funeral For a Friend, something I'd never known before:

"Once upon a time there existed a band called January Thirst. They recorded one song for a Blackfish Records compilation - pretty fucking brutal - and a really close friend of mine screamed in that band, and he played it for me. And he was really fucking excited, and I was like 'Yeah, man!'. It was pretty fucking brutal. I wasn't a huge fan, to be honest..."

(At this point Kris interjected, quipping "16 years and you're telling me now, bro...")

"Then their singer left, and [Kris] says 'Do you wanna come along and try out for the band?'. What the fuck am I supposed to do in a band that sounds like that? But what the fuck, I'll do it."

So Matt went along to January Thirst's practice space - St Barnabus church, kindly provided by Kris's mother - and he tried out for the band. They all agreed that, with Matt's voice sounding like it did, they couldn't play "real heavy shit" anymore, so they started writing together... "We started playing some ideas, Kris has some lyrics and they were really fucking good lyrics", and within the next hour they'd created '10:45 Amsterdam Conversations'.  "It was a meant to be a demo, it wasn't meant to be for public consumption" but that became 'Between Order and Model', the EP that launched the band's career, in part because of how rough around the edges and independent it sounded. January Thirst were no more. Funeral For a Friend were born.
And following the story of their birth is the story of their demise. '10:45...' was followed by 'The Art of American Football' - which Matt dedicated to Funeral For a Friend, then called for a circle pit because it would be "the last circle pit that we'll ever fucking see!" - ...and then it was time for the last two songs that the band would ever perform. They'd picked the songs specifically, with Matt stating "these next two songs, if I were to explain to anybody what this band is about I would play them these two songs".
I'd looked up the setlist that they'd been doing at every other 'Casually Dressed...' in full show, and it had been 'History' and then 'Roses for the Dead', but I was elated when they switched the two songs to perform them for the final time. 'Roses for the Dead' has always been an emotional one - a tribute to all the people that Matt has loved and lost throughout his life - but it didn't seem like an appropriate song to be the last song.
Of course, the closer had to be 'History'.
But before performing it Matt took the time to thank every single person that was with them. Thanking Zoax, he called him "friends and brothers", praising them for "making music for the right fucking reasons, because it moves them". He joked about Adam interrogating him about Funeral For a Friend ("any story that he could possibly get out of us, any story to do with our band") and said that whenever he heard the word "legacy" he didn't think it would relate to them, because he "never thought we would be a band who would influence anything or anyone" and that was why they made the effect to "give something back to the scene that has nurtured us" because it's still relevant today. He also announced that Creeper "genuinely 100% deserve everything they've got coming their way", and he's right - there are big things on the horizon for those guys.
Personally thanking all of their crew, Matt announced "for us this is a family, regardless of everything, regardless of sales, it's about family, it's about finding a place" and if more upcoming bands could develop this mindset I feel as though we'd be getting a lot more success stories. You could hear that he was getting emotional when he was speaking, so it wasn't a surprise when he complained "fucking hell, I'm getting all fucking teary! Emo as fuck, yeah, we know!".
Joking that it wasn't fair because he's "the only guy that actively uses a microphone in this band", he also took the time to individually thank all of the other band members too: Casey, their drummer, "for killing it with us [...] truly and inspiring individual, incredibly talented and we've been lucky to have him"; Rich and Gav, who "stepped in and kicked this band's ass"; Kris, and "every single member past and present - thank you so much for fucking everything, for being the best bunch of guys to sound off ideas with, tell you that your riff is shit..." (causing chuckles from all the members, so it makes you wonder how often that was said!). Finally thanking "every single person who has ever given a single fuck about our band, we love you very, very, very much" the room erupted in a roar of cheers, the chant of "Funeral! Funeral! Funeral!" echoing around the room. Feet stamping, hands clapping, every member of the crowd were showing appreciation for a band who didn't just catapult their genre into the limelight, but a band who have fought against adversity, persevered through line-up changes and independently releasing multiple albums, and who have done it all with a grateful, thankful attitude.
Introducing 'History', Matt shared that it was about "standing up for what you believe in, never letting go of your dreams, your aspirations" and enthusing "fight for it!". As soon as the song started you couldn't hear Matt's vocal, but this wasn't a technical hitch: the crowd was singing along so loudly that they were almost over-powering the speakers. The song passed in a flash, feeling like just seconds had passed before it was over, and then that was it; the end of Funeral For a Friend.
The band stood on stage thanking the crowd, Matt falling to pieces and the other members rushing to console him (including Darran and Ryan, who had been watching side stage but sped over to comfort their friend). The chant started up again, this time more raucous than before (if that was even possible!) but then some members of the crowd started singing the end of 'History' again, and before long the entire room was joining in on the impromptu singalong:

"Archers in your arches, raise your fingers for one last salute, and I bleed this skyline dry, your history is mine."

Every member looked so touched, with Matt drying his eyes and singing along with everyone, before raising his hands in a heart shape and thanking the crowd.
It was utterly heartbreaking, but it was also one of the most memorable moments of my life; I don't think I'm going to be able to listen to 'History' for a while without getting overcome with emotion.

Setlist:

Rookie of the Year

Bullet Theory

Juneau (ft. Adam Carroll)

Bend Your Arms to Look Like Wings

Escape Artists Never Die

Storytelling

Moments Forever Faded

She Drove Me To Daytime Television

Red is the New Black

Your Revolution is a Joke

Waking Up

Novella

-

This Year's Most Open Heartbreak (ft. Darran Smith and Ryan Richards)

Kiss and Make Up (All Bets Are Off)
10 Scene Points to the Winner

You Want Romance?

10:45 Amsterdam Conversations

The Art of American Football

Roses For The Dead

History

It sucks that Funeral For a Friend have split, I'm not going to lie to you. But I'm ecstatic that they managed to go out on such a high note, with everyone supporting them; the crowd at the show was utterly brilliant, and the response could not have been better. Whatever they choose to do next, I hope the guys stay in the music industry and keep making the scene a better place - their impact and influence will not be easily forgotten.

Moose Blood - The Vic Swindon, 08/03/15

If you've read my blog in the past, you might know that back in November I saw Moose Blood supporting Mallory Knox. They put on an amazing performance, so when it was announced that they were playing a show in my hometown of Swindon, there was no question in my mind that I needed to be there.

Opening band, With Ghosts, are local lads from Swindon, meaning that I've seen them in the past - including back in October, supporting Decade. The fact that I could remember quite a few of their songs, despite having heard them for the last time nearly six months ago, is a huge pointer towards the fact that they can definitely write catchy songs. However, whether due to time constraints or just an lack of confidence, they didn't shine as much tonight as I'd been hoping they would. Don't get me wrong, they still performed well! But there was hardly any interaction with the crowd, and instead of having an audible break between songs to allowed for an applause break, the guitars carried on in a way that meant the crowd were clapping throughout the start of the following song. Instead of having the audience eating out of the palm of their hands, they seemed to be making the entire situation rather uncomfortable, which was a crying shame. Similarly, throughout the entirety of one of their last songs there was painful guitar feedback; whether due to a problem with the band or the venue, I'm not completely sure, but something was definitely wrong with the set. However, I still have all of my fingers crossed that they will release an EP in the next few months, because I still have their lyrics stuck in my head from last night and I want to get a physical copy of their songs!

Second band of the night were Southampton's Creeper, a band who I hadn't listened to before but who I'd definitely heard of; they were featured in Kerrang!'s Introducing feature a few months ago, as well as Rock Sound's '59 bands you need in your life right now' (which is usually completely spot on), and they played at Takedown Festival on Saturday, after which vocalist Will Gould ended up falling down his stairs after the band drank one hundred beers between them, which was a hilarious tale. I was highly anticipating their set and I was not disappointed. Bursting out on to the stage with 'We Had A Pact', I was instantly gripped by their explosive and frenetic show, with Will hardly spending a moment standing still. Throughout their set they played their self-titled EP in full and it definitely demonstrated that the band have much variety in their songs, even though they only played five of them. Closer 'Novena' was a strange choice after such an adrenaline-filled pop punk set, as it has quite a slow beginning and gradual build up which could have been an asset at one of their headline shows, but seemed to make the crowd antsy and disinterested. The song was beautiful, soaring in a way that showed a band that are definitely holding their heads above the crowd, but it just seemed an awkward ending song for a live set. As the song built up and kicked back in again it definitely drew a lot of the audience back in, but quite a few of them seemed difficult to win back, which sucked for the guys. As they get more experienced with touring I'm sure they'll get better at building setlists, because I do think 'Novena' would fit very well in the middle of a set, but that's something that will come with time. Seeing as they haven't even been a band for that long and their songs are already being picked up by Radio One, I'm sure it won't be too long until these guys are headlining their own shows. 

Setlist: 

We Had A Pact

Gloom

VCR

Into The Black

Novena

Main event, Moose Blood, were definitely the main attraction for the majority of the crowd, who surged forwards and started singing every word the second that they stepped on to the stage. For a band who have supported Mallory Knox and are appearing on Warped Tour in USA this summer, it makes literally no sense to me that they decided to play a venue of this size, but I absolutely love the fact that I managed to experience it. All of the gigs that I've been to in Swindon have had a distinct lack of crowd surfing or stage diving, but that changed last night with the most hectic gig I've experienced in the town. The majority of the set was comprised of songs off of their debut full length album, 'I'll Keep You In Mind, From Time To Time', so it wasn't too surprising that people were singing along to every word as it's been quite well promoted, but even older tracks 'Stay Here' and 'Evening Coffee', only available on vinyl, were gobbled up by the audience who seemed even more invigorated by these surprising additions to the set. With vocalist Eddy Brewerton telling the crowd that the band didn't write a setlist for the concert, so were just guessing, this might explain some of the lesser known choices, but I applaud them for playing them, and playing them excellently. In fact, the entire set was played excellently: Eddy's vocals were on point, as usual, and musically they are all completely in sync, not giving any room for error. 

I'm glad that Moose Blood aren't a band who have forgotten their roots during their speedy rise, and that was cemented even further when Eddy bashfully stated "thank you so much for coming down. I know it's late, and it's a Sunday..." when really I'm sure that this set is the highlight of many attendants weeks. It's always good when a band become successful very quickly and it doesn't go to their heads, but I really want to see Moose Blood accept that people are quickly falling in love with them, and they definitely shouldn't doubt it. If you haven't heard of Moose Blood, you need to jump on board soon. Their brand of emo-punk has gotten them lots of attention in America, and if you don't listen to them soon you'll regret it when they're selling out venues five or six times the size of The Vic. This was one of the best gigs I've ever attended in Swindon, and it will take a hell of a lot to beat it in the future. 

Setlist:

Bukowski

Swim Down

Pups

Chin Up

Stay Here

Evening Coffee

I Hope You're Missing Me

Gum

I Hope You're Miserable

Boston