By Jase Walker
As an aged Millennial, there’s little chance I’d miss the chance to get stuck into my nostalgia by going to the other side of the country to indulge in a bit of emo on a Friday night. It’s Senses Fail with Saves The Day in tow and guests Youth Fountain to really drive home the lineup for tonight.
I arrived a bit later than I’d liked so after a mad dash to the venue, literally just in time for Youth Fountain to start. It’s my first time in Dynamo’s main room and I have to admit that the sound here is pretty fantastic right from the outset.
It’s pretty obvious what era of music I’m experiencing with exactly the sort of vocal and guitar work you’d expect, built from the ground up to be catchy but soaked in melancholic emotion. Imagine all that sort of raw punky edge of the likes of Less Than Jake, My Chemical Romance, Rise Against, all that good shit. God, it’s genuinely making me want to make the trip back to Slam Dunk next year. Admittedly the singer seems a bit resigned to the opener slot which is a bit of a shame because they’re genuinely a lot of fun to watch and listen to. It’s tough getting people going but I’d like to think the crowd enjoyed it all the same. We are off to a pretty damn good start.
Saves The Day has actually started nearly ten minutes earlier than was stated on the set times so I’ve jumped into the venue after sorting myself out with a beer, whoops. I definitely feel like I’m around 20 years late but I’m finally getting to see a band that was a huge part of my teenage years. This is exactly the sort of innocent emo punk music I needed on a Friday night to see out the final couple of days of summer.
Clearly everyone here remembers the songs and words a lot better than I do, but that isn’t dampening the experience for me in any way, I love seeing people going wild at shows. Saves The Day sound fantastic too, as you’d hope with a band that’s been as enduring as they have. Listening to this I could be sitting at my dad’s house again drinking a semi illegal beer on a Saturday night with Kerrang! on while everyone else is wearing black hoodies and various fringe haircuts, life is good.
I can’t quite get my head around the fact that their singer looks almost identical to how he did about two decades ago, some people are absolutely linked to the fountain of youth aren’t they? This set has been exactly what I wanted it to be though, I feel like over the last few years I’ve been able to tick off a lot of bands that have meant a lot to me and Saves The Day are definitely one of them. I have waited so SO long to hear ‘At Your Funeral’ live and I am so full of joy that I have finally been able to, I still remember all the words and teenage me is very thankful.
Finally, it’s time for Senses Fail to smash through ‘Let It Enfold You’ in its entirety. The crowd is immediately fully into it and bouncing around while their singer swings his microphone around like well trained nunchucks. Somehow they’ve even brought someone on stage from the audience who clearly knows the song well enough to play it live with the band as well. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this happen unplanned before!
I knew I was in for a night of silly fun but this is already popping off way harder than I could have anticipated already! It’s quite amusing they’ve taken a moment to give Counterparts a bit of a ribbing considering how Brendan acts, all in good fun though. As with the rest of the acts today, Senses Fail sound absolutely fantastic, I don’t know whether it’s just the sound guy or the venue or a mix of both but it’s stellar. Every part of the band rings through nice and clear, there’s a real grunt to the sound and the vocals are crisp and clear.
I do wonder how many were here specifically for Saves The Day though as the crowd seems to have dispersed a bit which is a shame considering how much of a fantastic show that Senses Fail are putting on. Not only has the show been great to watch but their singer is doing a great job of chatting with the audience in-between songs and providing a bit of humour to keep everything going. He’s also the second person I’ve seen successfully pull off a cartwheel at a live show, the other being TWRP. What a fantastic evening this has been, I’ve really dug into some music that painted my teenage years and while it’s probably been long enough for me to forget the words, I did not forget the riffs.
Now to get that train home, sleep, and come straight back in about 18 hours. There’s more to come with Dynamo and I can’t wait.
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