A Day To Remember - Wembley Arena, London, 27/01/17

I missed openers Moose Blood due to "lack of staff" causing train delays, but thankfully I made it to my seat moments before Neck Deep took to the stage. 

Neck Deep took over the world in 2016. Starting the year with an international co-headline tour with State Champs, they filled it with festival appearances in more countries than I could count and ended it with a main support slot for Pierce The Veil on a two month tour.
All of that adventuring has caused almost a year to pass since the last time the Wrexham quintet played on UK soil. The moment they bounced out onto the stage it was apparent that a huge chunk of the crowd were there to welcome the boys back home, the roar that erupted for them rivaling the one that the headliners received later in the night.
It's impossible not to have fun during a Neck Deep set. Their music is paint by numbers pop-punk, but their personalities give the band the universal appeal that's helping them break out all over the world. I've missed listening to vocalist Ben Barlow's humorous banter, cheesily asking the crowd "Did Moose Blood make you Blush?" with a proud grin on his face. He almost gave the audience a collective heart attack when he screamed Jeremy McKinnon's name in the middle of 'Serpents', then giggled to himself at the end of the song, asking "Who actually thought Jeremy McKinnon was gonna come out right them? I trolled you all!".
It was a special night for the band, too. Ben shared that they all had family members backstage, joking that he didn't find the crowd scary at all but "somewhere my mum is here, and that scares the shit out of me". Despite his joke it was an emotional moment: Ben's father Terry passed away last year and he was wearing a Terry Barlow Records charity t-shirt at the show, meaning he was at the forefront of every fan's mind.
There's no way he couldn't have been proud of the band for this show, though. Mosh pits broke out during every song - except for the acoustic 'A Part of Me', the only older song that the band played, which had the loudest crowd chant that I've ever experienced - and the audience were constantly surging forward, trying to get closer to the action.
It was obvious that this was going to be a match made in tour heaven: Jeremy actually helped write most of 'Life's Not Out To Get You' (probably the reason the set was so skewed towards tracks from the newer release!) so the bands share a lot of fans. I believe Neck Deep easily could have been main support at this show. 

Setlist:

Gold Steps
Lime St.
Kali Ma
Serpents
Rock Bottom
A Part of Me
December
Can't Kick Up The Roots

New Found Glory are a band that I've rapidly fallen out of love with. Something was off when I saw their set at Reading festival two years ago, and despite the fact that they're legends - they're celebrating their twentieth year as a band, which doesn't happen too often! - they just aren't my cup of tea anymore.
A lot of this comes down to Jordan Pundik's distinctively nasally vocal. It's an acquired taste. I was familiar with most of the songs in their set before the show, but I was struggling to distinguish which was which: their set had an almost psychedelic quality, the songs flowing in together and seeming never-ending, making me wonder when it was going to be time for A Day To Remember.
Based on the lack of crowd participation when he held the microphone out, it seemed as though they were fighting a losing battle. Compared to the explosive reaction that relative newbies Neck Deep received, New Found Glory should have had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand, but it just didn't happen. Their more well-known songs got people moving ('All Downhill From Here', 'Hit or Miss' and 'Kiss Me' in particular, as well as closer 'My Friends Over You' which never disappoints) but the majority of their set fell flat, putting a dampener on the evening.
It pains me to say that, because all four of them were so grateful to be there and so thankful to the crowd for watching their set. Normally Jordan and guitarist/backing vocalist Chad Gilbert (also known as Mr. Hayley Williams) are the only ones who talk on stage, but they forced their microphones on bassist Ian Grushka and drummer Cyrus Bolooki, who both expressed gratitude from the bottom of their hearts.
Chad gave a very impassioned speech regarding following your dreams, announcing "Whenever shit gets hard, don't give up. Success is based on your own terms. You're doings things for yourself and not for people who think they suck or they don't suck. Fuck what everyone thinks apart from yourself and your friends and your family". If the band are powered by this mindset it's no surprise that they're about to release their ninth album, and I genuinely hope there are many more: it's refreshing to see a band fighting against adversity rather than buckling under pressure and calling it a day.
That being said, they did perform 'Making Me Miserable' - the soon to be released first single from their upcoming album 'Makes Me Sick' - and it shows promise. Compared to the ceaseless generic punk sound encompassing the majority of their back catalogue, the new material is more upbeat, with a fresh sound that breaths life into the band. It's reminiscent of their seventh album, 'Radiosurgery', and if the rest of the album has this vibe it'll be very enjoyable.
After this show the band announced that they'd be returning to the UK in October, playing six of their albums in full at various shows across the country. I'm not going to be getting tickets to any of the dates, but if you're a big fan don't sleep on it: these are certainly going to sell fast.

Setlist:
All Downhill From Here

Understatement
Selfless
Hit or Miss
Something I Call Personality
Hold My Hand
Happy Being Miserable
Kiss Me cover
Dressed To Kill
Vicious Love
My Friends Over You

The last time I saw A Day To Remember was at Reading festival back in 2014. Things in camp ADTR went quiet for a couple of years, but that changed back in September with the release of their sixth album, 'Bad Vibrations'.
At the time of release it was labelled their "best album since 'Homesick'", and having experienced the tracks in a live environment I can confirm that's the truth. I resisted listening to the album before the show, only being familiar with 'Paranoid' and 'Naivety' out of the new tracks they played on the night, but I was completely absorbed in the set despite not knowing a large chunk of the material.
That's the sign of a good band. If they can perform the songs you love perfectly and can blow you away with songs you've never heard before, they can do anything.
The lyrics on the new album are overly repetitive - the aforementioned 'Naivety' featuring the line "Where's my naviety?" eight times, and 'We Got This' repeating the entire chorus six times - but musically they show a huge progression. 'Bad Vibrations' is one of the heaviest songs they've released in at least five years, and both 'Exposed' and 'Justified' completely redeem the band after the uninspired 'Common Courtesy'.
It's not better than 'Homesick', but it's certainly a step in the right direction. The band seemed to be losing themselves for a while there - perhaps due to the recently resolved legal battle with Victory Records, a struggle which lasted for over five years - but they're finally back.
This was A Day To Remember's biggest ever London show. They've played Alexandra Palace twice - a surprise acoustic set at Warped UK back in 2013 and a headline show the following year - but the time had come for them to take the step to Wembley Arena.
Vocalist Jeremy McKinnon knows how to control an arena crowd. With the words 'CIRCLE PIT' flashing on the screens behind them before 'Paranoid' started, Jeremy's encouraging screams whipped the crowd up into a frenzy. The reaction was instantaneous, but the energy didn't peak at the start of the set. During 'Right Back At It Again' Jeremy shouted "I wanna see as many people crowd surfing as humanely possible!", taking it one step further towards the end of the night by encouraging people to go "crowd surfing on a crowd surfer" throughout 'Naivety' - a maneuver that involves someone crowd surfing and one of their friends standing on top of them, attempting to use them like a surfboard. Sounds pretty impossible, right? While the majority of people just ended up crowd surfing regularly, I spotted one intrepid fan making the journey across the crowd on top of his friend - they didn't get very far before being helped down, but it looked awesome while it lasted!
It's only been a couple of weeks since the tenth anniversary of 'For Those Who Have Heart', and they celebrated by playing 'Fast Forward To 2012' - a fan favourite from the album, but one that hasn't been regularly included in their live shows for the past few years. This was obviously a show aimed at promoting the new album, but this was a lovely way to say thank you to the fans who've supported them through the past ten years and while continue to follow them in the future.
'Homesick' is my favourite album, so I was overjoyed that they played more from that album than any other in the set. Finally getting to hear 'Have Faith In Me' live was amazing, and based on how loud the audience were chanting the words back to Jeremy it's obvious that the song still resonates deeply despite being almost eight years old.
My personal favourite moment of the set was the start of the encore. The band went off at the end of the main set to allow the crowd to chant for the encore to start, and when guitarist Neil Westfall appeared on stage before Jeremy he quipped "I'll play this goddamn song solo, I swear to god!".
When Jeremy eventually did appear, holding an acoustic guitar, it was obvious that they were going to be opening the encore with 'If It Means A Lot To You', the closing track from 'Homesick' and their most understated song to date. It was a beautiful rendition, the audience singing every word back to the band and lighting up the arena in a memorable and poignant moment. I've been to a lot of shows, but I'm going to remember that experience forever.
Finishing the encore with the stereotypical pop-punk 'All Signs Point To Lauderdale' (I HATE THIS TOWN, IT'S SO WASHED UP!) and riotous 'The Downfall of Us All', they definitely went out with a bang. This was my first time seeing an A Day To Remember headline set, but it's made it impossible to pass up the opportunity in the future. It's also revived my love for a band who I've lost touch with - I'm going to be listening to 'Bad Vibrations' on repeat for the foreseeable future.

Setlist:

Mr. Highway's Thinking About The End
Paranoid
2nd Sucks
Right Back At It Again
I'm Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of
It's Complicated
Fast Forward To 2012
We Got This
Bad Vibrations
My Life For Hire
Exposed
Have Faith In Me
Justified
Homesick
Naivety
All I Want
The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle
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If It Means A Lot To You
All Signs Point To Lauderdale
The Downfall of Us All

Fall Out Boy - Wembley Arena, 11/10/15

My favourite thing about concerts is encountering surprise hidden gems in the support acts. which was certainly something that happened last night. I hadn't listened to either Charley Marley or Matt and Kim, and I wasn't too sure what to expect, but their short opening sets were the definition of fun.

First up was Charley, a recent signing to Pete Wentz's DCD2 record label. Only playing a small fifteen minute set, Charley managed to squeeze in four songs, including an appearance from Pete himself. The crowd were participating politely at the start of his set, (if anyone can tell me what the first song he played was, that would be much appreciated: I picked up the lyric "I'm the last known fighter, fighting for you") but by the end a large majority of the crowd were jumping about and joining in - probably one of the best responses for an unknown opener that I've ever seen, especially one that was only added to the tour mere days before it kicked off. 

I do wonder if Pete's guest appearance could have been the turning point - when you back a recent signing strongly enough to perform with him, it shows how serious you are about supporting his career. The crowd got themselves into a bit of a frenzy with his appearance, and it didn't subside after he'd disappeared. 

Closer 'Bad Things With Jamaicans' was Charley's debut single, which he has recently released a video for, and it seems like a song that could really put him on the radar. Having guys run out from back stage to throw shirts to the crowd definitely didn't hurt matters! His sound is so unique that there isn't really anything to compare it to - there are aspects that I could compare to multiple bands (the funky beat with the rap over the top reminiscent of a poppier twenty one pilots, if they had the fashion style of Don Broco) but there's no one out there that I can solidly say that he sounds like. I'll just recommend you check him out and decide for yourself. 

Setlist:

-

Wonka Bar (ft. Pete Wentz)

Bandalero

Bad Things With Jamaicans

Second act Matt and Kim also had a fairly short set, but their energy did not let up throughout the entire half an hour. Just in 'Block After Block', drummer Kim Schifino had already stood up on her drums to get the crowd clapping along, and vocalist/keyboardist Matt Johnson had no qualms about commanding the crowd to jump. With the crazy keyboard work and the effervescent energy the crowd didn't argue, with the majority of the floor throwing themselves into each and every song. 

I must admit, I had not heard of Matt and Kim before they were announced as Fall Out Boy's support, so I was surprised to discover that they'd been a band for eleven years. Their experience does show on stage though, because they know how to get a crowd involved and make it look completely effortless. I must respect any band who can have a vocalist who plays keyboards while standing on one foot practically horizontally, and any drummer who can casually stand on her drums to get the crowd involved, then jump back down and flawlessly re-enter the song without missing a beat. I'm not a musician (any longer, but there was a time I could play a mean flute) but I know how hard it must be to exude that amount of confidence and control when you can be pretty certain no one in the crowd bought tickets just to see you - I mean, the show sold out months and months before the support acts were added to the bill. 

Alternating between miming dry humping while a musical interlude was playing, to throwing balloons out for the crowd to blow them up themselves, and twerking on a drum kit... It was the most varied set I think I've ever seen. No, it was the most varied set I've ever seen, and I'm still a bit confused by all that went on. But, as Matt himself put it "we love to play, so we show it. I know you're like 'Who are those assholes smiling up there?' But we love this, we love getting to do this for you", and they certainly know how to put on a show. 

I'm not saying Matt and Kim are the best live band. Their energy is commendable, and their inability to be phased is also impressive. Alas, Matt's voice is quite flat and nasally, so I did find it quite annoying at times. I think I'd be unable to listen to their recordings, and they aren't a band that I would find myself choosing in my spare time - it's a shame, but it's just the way things go sometimes. However, if they tour in the UK again and I have the chance to see another set, there's no way I'm missing it: this short, six song set rates in my top ten most fun sets of all time. 

Setlist:

Block After Block

Hey Now

Now

Get It 

Tonight

It's Alright

The support act who had the biggest challenge to win the crowd over was definitely Professor Green (aka Stephen Manderson). When he was announced as support the backlash on Twitter was vicious, so much so that he even sold a shirt with a tweet on it at the show. As he walked out on stage, I was quite shocked at the volume of cheers that went up - I don't know if it was just because it meant more live music, but everyone seemed to be screaming and surging forward.
The reaction stopped as soon as it started though. Through the first two songs, 'Upper Clapton Dance' and 'I Need You Tonight' (Professor Green's take on the INXS classic) there were only a couple of people waving their hands, and it really did look like the set was going to be a flop. 'Just Be Good To Green' is one of his most popular songs, so that got quite a lot more people involved, but it wasn't until half way through 'Remedy' that he really seemed to grab the crowd. I'm not quite sure what happened - there wasn't a real turning point - because one moment hardly anyone was moving, and the next thing the crowd didn't seem to want to stop. It carried on through the rest of the set, culminating in 'Read All About It', when nearly half of the arena had their phone lights out to set the mood for the song.
I've never seen such a varied reaction as I did at this set. I mean, sometimes it takes a couple of songs for a crowd to really get into a support act, but I haven't seen the crowd go hot and cold so frequently in such a short space of time. Overall, he definitely received more support than I'd been expecting - the room filled in a lot more than it had during the first two acts. When he went down into the crowd during 'Monster', you could also see a lot of people reaching for him, and he looked extremely happy getting back up on stage, saying "thanks for supporting me during 'Monster', we had a little bit of a moment there".
I hadn't been expecting much from Professor Green: I really like rap, but he's not one of the artists I really appreciated. I liked 'Just Be Good To Green', but I hadn't listened to any of his other songs before coming, and I thought it was going to be an interesting set but not an amazing one.
However, I wasn't betting on his live band being so damn amazing. By 'band', I mean the co-vocalists Katie Holmes-Smith and Dream Mclean, and his DJ. Dream is a brilliant rapper, and some of the back and forth that went on between him and Professor Green perfectly exhibited the chemistry and ease between the two of them. Katie's vocal was the more stunning of the two - she has one of those brilliant tones that should make her a successful solo vocalist in her own right (a la Ella Eyre and Jess Glynne, both vocalists who extensively toured with other bands (Rudimental and Clean Bandit respectively) before launching their solo careers) and she blew me away. I dislike Emili Sandé's vocal on 'Read All About It', but Katie's voice made me really appreciate the song, which was something I didn't think could happen. I enjoyed Professor Green, but I do wonder whether I would have liked his set as much if he hadn't brought Katie along with him.
I think this is one of those very rare sets when the artist completely manages to change my opinion. I didn't dislike Professor Green, I was just very nonchalant. However, with the energy that he was exuding and the meaningful lyrics that poured out of every song... I think I'm going to give him a better chance in the future. Thank you, Fall Out Boy, for having such a unique choice for support - it's always great to branch out of your comfort zone and experience different genres in a live environment.

Setlist:

Upper Clapton Dance

I Need You Tonight

Just Be Good To Green

Are You Getting Enough?

Remedy

Jungle

Monster

Read All About It

This was the third time I've seen Fall Out Boy, so I knew what to expect from their set. The sets that they perform are always so much fun because they have so many songs with great sing alongs, and I've never been disappointed by one of their live shows. However, because I really didn't like 'American Beauty/American Psycho' as an album, I was quite apprehensive about hearing any of their newer material.
To start the set, the band had the video screen that had been above the stage all night lowered down to cover their entrance, so the anticipation built very quickly. Fall Out Boy are well known for putting on a great performance, and the videos that play at the beginning of their set and at intervals throughout are atmospheric and thought-provoking. By choosing to go down a multi-media route, it really does get the crowd more invested in what's going on on the stage, because there's no way that you can't be paying attention to their entrance. Playing 'Sugar, We're Going Down' first was a little bit of a surprise, but that's the brilliant thing about going to a tour when a new album has just been released - it's interesting to see which songs get moved where in the setlist.
This set really was a blockbuster. With tracks from all of their albums and a massive twenty three songs played, it was surprising that Fall Out Boy could keep up the energy in their performance during such a long set and on every night of an extensive tour - this was the penultimate date of the UK leg. They weren't running around all over the place, or jumping up and over things, but because Andy Hurley's drum kit was placed at the top of a set of stairs the band members were running up to perform in front of him quite regularly, and Pete Wentz was continually doing his crazy circular spins while playing.
Where I had been nervous about the new material, I shouldn't have been worried. The band played seven songs from their newest album, including my personal favourite ('Jet Pack Blues') and the five songs that have been released as singles ('Centuries', 'Immortals', 'American Beauty/American Psycho', 'Irresistible' and 'Uma Thurman' respectively). The only song that didn't really seem to fit into the set was 'The Kids Aren't Alright', which is quite slow for a Fall Out Boy song - and not in a pretty way, more in the way of an elephant plodding along. With the lighters out and the crowd all swaying, it did find itself seeming more like a lullaby than a rock band's ballad, and I'm still not too sure on that one. Surprisingly, the song I hated most on the album - 'American Beauty/American Psycho' - sounded quite good in a live environment: on the CD it feels overproduced and over the top, but in the live environment it worked much better and I found myself really enjoying it.
In fact, after seeing this show I think I finally get it. A lot of people have been raving about the newest album, saying that it's revolutionary and it's ushering in a new era for Fall Out Boy, and I've always disagreed - but now, I get it. A couple of the older songs seemed a bit dull after hearing the newer material, because where it's so infectiously catchy you can't help but want to dance to it, and it overshadows a couple of their earlier songs that used to do just that. I liked 'Uma Thurman' and 'Irresistible' when they were released, but I didn't love either of them - it just seems like they're songs that really click in a live performance, because dance tracks always sound so much better when you can feel them. I've also always been a bit unsure on the kick in to 'Uma Thurman', which seems a bit harsh on the recordings - it dives straight in quite loudly, and I really enjoy songs that build up - but when Pete introduced it by saying "some day the storm will clear for everyone and you'll realise you can move mountains", I was too excited for the song to really even notice what had previously irritated me.
The new song that sounded the best of all was, by far, 'Immortals', because they decided to perform it acoustic. Any Fall Out Boy song acoustic is going to sound beautiful, but whereas 'Immortals' had been a song that I'd sat on the fence over, the acoustic version definitely made me fall in love with it. Following it up with an acoustic of 'Young Volcanoes', I was also highly impressed - it's my favourite song from 'Save Rock and Roll', and it sounds much better with pared back accompaniment. It makes me wish that they could have done more songs acoustic, and I'm still holding out hope for an acoustic album at some point in the future, but this was enough to keep me wanting more.
Going back over to the main stage after their acoustic set, Andy Hurley performed one of the best drum solos of all time. Often, drum solos are just complete silence with the drummers doing as many tricks as they can in a minute or two, but the difference in this solo was that Andy was performing to a mash up of songs. Including the Game of Thrones theme song and 'Trap Queen' by Fetty Wap, it was impressive to hear Andy's drumming flowing seamlessly amongst the different genres, and it certainly cemented what a talented performer he is - drummers seem to get overlooked quite frequently, but Andy really shone.
I cannot fault any of their set, because Fall Out Boy are a band that don't make mistakes - they don't pick songs that will flop, and they squeeze in as much as they physically can because they care about making their fans happy and performing as much as possible. Pete stopped the set for a break just before 'Centuries', as there was a fan in the crowd who was nearly passing out; as the crowd passed the water back to her, Pete told them "if you're feeling too hot and out of it, you can talk to [security]. We care about each and every one of you". It makes for such a safe environment when the band is so concerned about the well-being of their fans, and it's a beautiful thing to see - especially in a show of this magnitude.
The most inspiring moment for me was definitely at the end of the set, just after Pete had assisted the unwell fan. He shared a story from the Cherokee Indians - the story of the two wolves - and announced "life is far too short to feed the wrong wolf". I've heard the story in the past and I've found it very empowering, because it's all about making the right decisions for you and making the right choices for you to live your life to the fullest, and hearing it again just reinforces the impact of it for me. If you haven't heard of the story before, I sincerely recommend you read it through the link that I've posted above.
This was the best Fall Out Boy set I've ever seen, and Pete himself said it was "probably the most fun London show we've ever played" (also shouting out to "the UK in general for getting on the Halloween train, it's fucking awesome" - Pete really does love it over here!) so I feel honoured to have been in attendance for something as magnificent as this. If you haven't been to a Fall Out Boy show yet, you're seriously missing out - I'd suggest catching one as soon as you are able.

Setlist:
Sugar, We're Going Down
Irresistible
The Phoenix
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More "Touch Me"
I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me
Thriller
Alone Together
The Kids Aren't Alright
This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race
Immortals (acoustic on second stage)
Young Volcanoes (acoustic on second stage, followed by Andy's drum solo back on main stage)
Dance, Dance
American Beauty/American Psycho
Jet Pack Blues
Beat It
Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy
Uma Thurman
Thnks fr th mmrs
I Don't Care
Centuries
-
My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light 'Em Up)
Saturday