Gigs

Gig Review: Story Of The Year + The Blackout + Anemic

[Venue: Astoria 2, London]
[Date: 20 May 2008]

Opening the billing, Anemic greet a packed-out Astoria 2 with energy but don’t do a great job of filling it. Vocalist Kevin Peters’ atonal screeching does a poor job of complementing a selection of riffs that vary from generic to moderately epic, and the band never really comes together to inspire anything but an impatient tapping of feet. It’s clear the audience are here for two bands only, and Anemic aren’t doing enough to change many opinions.

Whatever Welsh boys The Blackout are doing, they’re doing it right. Going into the venue I passed by hordes of kids in Blackout tees proclaiming things like “it’s all about The Blackout tonight”, and they might not be wrong. The pit packs in for the pre-set buildup, and a wall of fans in the venue are already chanting album opening “We are the dy-no-mite” before they even dim the lights. Yet there’s no rock n’ roll pretension here – frontmen Sean and Gavin encourage the audience to “sing along, and if you don’t know the words, make them up”, before belting through an explosive set with the force of, dare I say it, a stick of dynamite.

Highlight ‘Spread Legs, Not Lies’ has kids throwing each other all over the shop, and the band are clambering all over the stage and the audience for the length of the set. Already propelling themselves from relative obscurity into the mainstream in a matter of months, their incendiary live show proves without doubt that behind the scene-friendly style - there’s enough substance to keep Kate Moss off hot dinners for a year.

Not to be outdone, Story Of The Year rush onto the stage like madmen, singer Dan whipping the crowd into a frenzy of bodies and broken voices. The sheer amount of energy the band possesses is unreal - if the Cirque du Soleil had a rock band, Story Of The Year would be it. Scaling the monitors, backflipping off amps and whipping guitars left, right and centre, the five-piece brew up a storm George Clooney would be proud of. Halfway through we’re treated to “the best song the band has ever written.” “Choose your fucking fate!” one audience member hazards – even better, we’re assured. Vocalist Dan Marsala’s not wrong.

The next four minutes are occupied by a bizarre mixture of Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Paradise City’, Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’, AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’, Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Bulls on Parade’ and finally grinds to a halt halfway through Van Halen. “What, you guys don’t know ‘Panama’?” Dan yells disappointedly.

They power on through a varied collection of songs from all three albums, breaking into new single ‘Wake up’ to deafening chants from a rabid audience, by now hurling each other against the walls to reach the front step. By the time closer ‘”Is This My Fate?” He Asked Them’ rolls around, the Astoria 2 is a sweaty ball of screams and fists and people are climbing over the bodies to reach a circle pit which spans the entire room. Bassist Adam scales one of the walls to high-five fans in the pulpit, then launches himself onto the crowd below. Even after the music is done, Ryan and Dan spend another few minutes high-fiving an audience that has provided an electric atmosphere. It’s clear these guys respect their fans and they got one hell of a show tonight.

For fans of: The Used, Alexisonfire, Saosin
Band links = Story Of The Year | The Blackout | Anemic

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