By Jase Walker
Finishing off this week’s run of gigs with a Saturday evening at Academy 3 for As December Falls alongside The Tyne and favourites of mine, Led By Lanterns, this will be the icing on a very hefty cake for me.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an incredibly large queue for an Academy 3 show before that was not only outside the building itself, but also for the venue doors inside! This is looking to be one of the most packed gigs I’ve ever been to at Academy 3 and I’ve not even seen the stage yet!
And we’re off, and finally after so many missed chances, I’m about to see Led By Lanterns smash it live! It’s fantastic seeing so many people for them right from the doors losing their minds even from the first song. As for the stage production, I’ve seen so many bands just go with the basics as a support act but not these, big tall LED lights around the stage working to the best of their music as well as the stage lights, great stuff. It’s clear that their upbeat pop-metal stuff has really captured people’s hearts, the venue’s already stuffed with people and so many are bouncing along and going mad for every song.
As well as performing amazingly, Led By Lanterns sound fantastic as well, each part of the band is heard clearly, nothing is too strong, it just sounds great. The set unsurprisingly leans pretty heavily on material from “Paralysis”, their latest album, clearly showing off how comfortable they’ve gotten with their sound over time. Led By Lanterns have put on an incredibly strong performance as openers for tonight’s show, I’m really happy that I’ve finally managed to catch them live! Hopefully I can catch them on their next headline slot, fantastic set.
Second tonight is The Tyne, a band I’ve never heard of before but the moment they start it reminds me pretty strongly of Good Charlotte with their loose style and brash attitude mixed with a good dose of pop punk. This carries on throughout the set, it’s just a solid slice of upbeat dancey music although the same can’t be said about the audience response compared to Led By Lanterns. The Tyne’s sound definitely pays homage to the likes of Fountains of Wayne’s ‘Stacey’s Mom’ at one point with a song off their latest EP, ‘Demons’, with its palm muted chugs and big pop chorus.
The Tyne’s on stage performance is definitely not lacking energy by any stretch, flinging themselves about across the stage constantly. Later on toward the end of the set, ‘Jessica’ sounds something closer to Blink 182 with its jumpy verses and bouncy chorus. These young lads definitely draw on the styles forged by many big pop punk bands that have come before them but use it brilliantly. The Tyne are wonderfully upbeat and fun to watch, and despite the short set have left me with a really positive impression that while they’ve got so much growth left to go as they mature as a band, they’re already fantastic so I’ll no doubt see these on a Slam Dunk Festival lineup before long.
Lastly, it’s the main event, As December Falls! These have been on my radar for a while and I’ve been told they’re a mix of pop punk similar to Paramore but with a mix of real solid riffy metal. The venue by this point is absolutely heaving and I’ve lost my spot close to the side of the stage. A cover of MCR’s “I’m not okay” sees the crowd go wild, one of the biggest emo ‘bangers of the last two decades! It does surprise me there’s no live bass player for this set tonight, not that it takes away from a pretty awesome live sound! I’ve seen bands do the “are you okay?” bit during live shows plenty of times but rarely with such an incredible chorus from the crowd in the way this one’s given tonight, incredible.
Just looking around at the crowd tonight, it’s a sea of waving arms and faces screaming the words back at the band, what a sight. I adore seeing bands having so much fun on stage and conversely seeing the audience feeling that and giving it back tenfold, it really is what the live music experience is about. An older song, “Break Your Heart” sees almost the entire audience clapping in unison and singing back the chorus in a dull roar that almost matches the volume of the band themselves!
As December Falls definitely know how to work their audience and easily prep them for singing along to the chorus and provoking better responses as well, a class act of showmanship. Breaking up the set a bit with an acoustic number while getting the whole audience to hold up their phones with lights on was pretty magical too. The further through the set we go, the more it’s clear to me that I’ve slept on As December Falls for way too long, their live performance is electric, the music is great fun to listen to and I’m enjoying this a ton, nevermind the audience going mental to every song. It sounded great, every song they’ve played has a clear identity to it, they’ve clearly had fun on stage performing and have fed off the energy of the audience every bit as much as the audience has fed off theirs.
Don’t write these off as just similar to Paramore though, they’re clearly much much more than that. They’ve got a brilliant mix of pop punk, some riffy metal bits, and a great ear for writing a catchy song that’s resonated with many people. Their audience response was every bit as engrossing as the band themselves, an amazing show on all parts.
What a fantastic evening of music, every act was brilliant and more names are added to my ever growing list of “good shit”.
- The tour continues:
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