by Mark Hayward
photos by Hannah Mesquitta and Mark Hayward
I photographed these guys last time they played in Portsmouth and to be honest, I wasn’t overly impressed. Their vocals were a disappointment and the timing was quite off at various points throughout their set, but credit where credit’s due. Since then, they’ve played endless amounts of sold out shows around the world.
The first band to take to the stage were With One Last Breath from York. I had never heard of these so really wasn’t sure what to expect. They opened up the night so well with their heavy breakdowns, powerful guitar tones and catchy chorus sing alongs. Being the newest band on the tour, they had a few pranks played on them during their set including one of the guys from the other bands stopping their set for ‘security reasons’. Then laughing at them hysterically before letting them continue playing. I listened to them when I got home from the show to see if their recordings matched their live performance, and it was spot on. While listening to them I realised how much they remind me of Glamour Of The Kill who are another up and coming band from York. Then the next track came on and it had the vocalist of GOTK doing special guest vocals. I felt like a genius! But anyway, enough rambling, check them out!
Up next were a band called Chelsea Grin who I’d heard a lot about, heard local bands cover, but never actually listened to. A few hours before the show I was just browsing through Facebook and someone had posted a video from YouTube of a live performance by them, and I literally thought ‘my poor ears’. But kept an open mind in the hope they wouldn’t be like that when you’re in the actual room. And they weren’t. The only downside to their set was the amount of strobe lighting they used, thank God I’m not epileptic! They’re one of few bands who can actually pull off having three guitarists. Their tones all worked so well together and the harmonizing, sweeping patterns stood out so well in the mix.
Bless The Fallwere next to take the stage, another band that I’d heard a lot about but had never actually listened to, so I spent some time searching their songs on YouTube to see what they were like and listened to their most recent album ‘Awakening’ which is really good and I suggest you all go check it out! To top off it all off, their stage presence was electric. The amount of crowd surfers being lifted off the barrier was phenomenal and definitely gave security a run for their money.
Finally, headliners Asking Alexandria’s set time had come. Instead of the usual, stereotypical, atomospherical intro with the fading lights and all that jazz, they just cut the room to complete darkness which added drama and gave an instant buzz. Opening to the intro to their most recent album ‘Reckless And Relentless’ then pounding straight into ‘Closure’ The band were incredibly tight with the samples and effects all in the right places. The vocals had improved a lot since I had last seen them, which made me change my opinion on them slightly until a clean section came which he ended up singing out of key. But I thought ‘Maybe it’s just a one off’, but then it happened again, and again. But in their favour, this was the last night of their UK tour, so I suppose they’re allowed to be exhausted and worn out.
The only thing I HATED about them was how in between every single song they would be saying how they want to have sex with the audience, including the underage girls. But hey! It’s their reputation they’re ruining! Overall, I was pretty impressed by their performance, crowd participation, crowd movement and just general atmosphere. If you ever get the chance to see them.. Go!
