Support:
Kids In Glass Houses
Mayday Parade
The Skints
Not too many years ago, we watched a young bunch of lads playing in a tiny club who went by the name of You Me At Six. Now, those very same lads have become men and have sold out two consecutive nights at London’s massive Brixton Academy. Tonight’s bill is a strong one as well, and it’s THE SKINTS who warm up the crowd first with their catchy reggae rock. The band are a bit of a sore thumb on the bill, but they’re always a great watch.
The ever catchy MAYDAY PARADE are up next, and tonight’s dodgy sound issues mean that this is far from being one of their best performances. Next up are KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES, and though they’re no stranger to fairly large headline shows themselves, tonight’s performance hint at the logical next step for them in the UK is take a swipe at Brixton themselves.
There’s no denying that the majority of the YOU ME AT SIX fan-base consists of teenage girls, but tonight’s high pitched wails are the sort of thing you’d expect for One Direction. Despite the fan base being the hysterical kind, this doesn’t mean that YMAS are a band not to be taken seriously. We’ve witnessed them countless times over the years, and from the tiny Camden Barfly right up to this 5,000 capacity venue, they’re always impressive to watch. They’ve not always had welcoming words from members of the forums, and that song still exists, but they’ve worked their bloody arses off to get to where they are tonight, and they damn well deserve it.
Last time we saw YMAS headline this very venue, we thought it was flawless – and tonight is even better. They’re a band that forever seem to be maturing, honing their live show into a tighter experience each time, and it seems that they’re at the stage where they can start ditching the songs that made them known in the first place. ‘Save It For The Bedroom’, which catapulted YMAS into the attentions of a massive audience is oddly left off the setlist tonight along with many older tracks, more tracks off of the chart bothering ‘Sinners Never Sleep’ can be aired live. They sound massive live, and it’s enough to remove the disappointment of a few missing hits.
All in all, the track sounding the biggest of the big tonight ends up being the band’s Thorpe Park rollercoaster theme tune, ‘The Swarm’ . You Me At Six keep to their steep upwards trajectory, and it’s one that doesn’t show any signs of leveling out.
RYAN COOPER